A few years ago, I saw Florence & the Machine in concert. I was getting over this girl, and I really wanted to hear Florence sing this song of hers, “You’ve Got The Love.” I wanted to hear her sing:
Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much
But you’ve got the love I need to see me through
I wanted to hear it, and know that maybe the door hadn’t closed on that relationship after all.
Instead, Florence closed with a new song, “No Light, No Light,” which went:
A revelation in the light of day
You can’t choose what stays and what fades away
Which was something I needed to hear. I didn’t want to hear it, but somebody had to say it.
The thing about music is, it has a habit of doing just that. You’re in love, and every song is a love song. You’re heartbroken, and every song reminds you of how hard things can be. You’re in need, and there’s a song to help.
Sometimes, when I need to find that center, I pull out the iPod and go looking for the right song for the moment. Maybe it’s not always what I hoped to hear. But some of the answers are almost always there.