Only Time (Enya)
No need for introductions. We all know Enya. Good. We're done here then. Well, maybe I should add some more. Only Time was released in 2000. If you were me, you weren't doing much in 2000. If you lived a better life than me, you were building things you are enjoying now. It was a long time ago. Perhaps you started your career or bought a house or had a baby. I don't know. I wish I had done those things instead. But, time reveals our mistakes as well as our triumphs. The only way back to the right path is to seek God. Let's move forward.
They say time heals all wounds. Time alone can't do that. Time is just days going by. It has no power in and of itself. I had wounds that festered since my childhood that weren't fully dealt with until God said it was time. Without the Lord moving in my life, I would still be handicapped and struggling. Or, I may have simply died. Grief can do that. It saps your life force. Makes you sad. Weak. But, let's continue.
One thing about the passage of time is it escapes our notice. And then something jolts us back to reality. Things are constantly changing. We enter and exit very different worlds. Kids growing up is a good way to illustrate this. In less than 20 years they grow in a belly, are born, grow more, and exit our homes. It is a significant stretch of time. Those who were blessed by experiencing that disagree (depending on their relationship with their children) because it likely went by too fast. It didn’t. No faster than any other 20-year stretch. Kids leaving home is a good thing, though, because it means we did our jobs as parents. So they say. Some people keep having kids because, I think, they don’t want that era to end. More power to them, but I don’t know where they get their energy. Let’s talk about Enya, though.
Enya's voice is unlike any other. It's possible there is a fair amount of processing in her songs, but she still has a unique talent I've never come across anywhere else. Her voice is unmistakable. One in a million. In case you wondered, her full name is Eithne Padraigin Ni Bhraonain. And I didn't even put the little things above all the letters. We will stick with Enya for our purposes. She also goes by Enya Patricia Brennan. She's Irish. Also, the best-selling solo artist in Ireland, second behind U2. She never married, never had children. Unless, of course, you count her music, which could be considered children. She started her musical career in 1980 when I was three years old. What was I doing when I was three? I don't know. Probably running around half naked. Enya, on the other hand, partook in her first singing competition when she was three. I wonder how that went. I'm always struck by how much others have accomplished and how much I haven't. Haha. Anyway.
Both the music and video are slightly sensual, but not overwhelmingly so. It's certainly not hyper-sexual like a lot of music in 2022. It just has an earthy, fecund vibe. I like the layered voices and how the orchestra flows around and undergirds them. (If you reduce the music down to tones, it starts to sound a bit like a Gregorian chant or something, which is probably not an accident. Enya introduced a lot of people to Celtic music.) There isn't one errant note. There aren't any hard edges. No harsh stops. It's like a pleasant force of nature. Not sure what is being sung in the other language. (Is that Gaelic? Elvish?) As you pass through the video, the seasons change. It's one of the promises God made after the flood. As long as time persists on earth, the seasons will endure. Time is something that exists here but not where God lives. We think of time as a constant, but it's a construct God created for our world. It's really nothing. I disagree with the lyrics when it says only time knows ... anything. Because time is created by God. Truly, only God knows anything.
Time isn't the be-all and end-all of change. Some things don't change over time. Some things remain. They get stronger. They last. I can think of a few things, like how I feel about some people. Everyone knows how I feel about a particular girl I’ve known most of my life. Also, God's Word. His faithfulness, His love. I won't express those things here, but it's clear some things don't change by the passing of time. If they are to ever change, they must be acted upon by an outside force.
Honestly, it's kind of a weird song. But, it had mass appeal. I wonder how popular it would be if it were released today. It's honest. It's simple. It's actually very good. I just wonder how it would fly in today's musical landscape. Internationally, it might do better than in the U.S. It's not dark. It's not depressing, though the music is minor chords. It's a little slow for my tastes, but it clearly works for a lot of people.
I hope this post was thought-provoking and pleasurable in some way. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I like writing about things of no consequence. My opinions shouldn't be taken as gospel. And, I certainly miss hearing others' opinions. I wish there was some sort of forum where we could entertain a discussion, but there isn't. Now, the question is, which song will be next?
Lyrics:
Who can say where the road goes?
Where the day flows? Only time
And who can say if your love grows
As your heart chose? Only time
Who can say why your heart sighs
As your love flies? Only time
And who can say why your heart cries
When your love lies? Only time
Who can say when the roads meet?
That love might be in your heart?
And who can say when the day sleeps
If the night keeps all your heart?
Night keeps all your heart
Who can say if your love grows
As your heart chose? Only time
And who can say where the road goes?
Where the day flows? Only time
Who knows? Only time
***
Very bored lately. Finished reading My Utmost For His Highest and moved onto something completely different, Monsters Among Us. Also, I read the book King of the Dinosaur Hunters before bed, as it's boring enough to put me to sleep yet somehow interesting enough to read. If you thought I couldn't get any weirder, think again. I have old, special-edition NebraskaLand magazines for bedtime reading next. But all of that pales in comparison to the at least 200 books my son read over the summer. Maybe he is like me a little bit.
Next part is for only me. It won’t make sense to anyone else. I use this space as a diary and occasionally look back at how far I’ve come. The last few years I felt a heaviness about something. It wasn’t sinful. It was done out of weakness. I asked God about it recently and heard His answer while at a cookout with friends. Now, if I continue to do it, then it is sinful. I had my mind made up about how to deal with it on my own but hadn’t done so, and now it looks like God is setting a fire under me. So, please pray I am faithful.
Thank you for reading. And God bless.
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