WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

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Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly

by

We had a huge party at our house this weekend for my husband’s employees. It was a a lot of fun, but somewhere in the clean-up, our iPods got mixed up and mine went home with one of the kids. She brought it back to the store and gave it to our General Manager (who also happens to be our brother-in-law) and said, “Whose is this?” Andrew flipped through the playlist, chuckled, and said, “It must be Al and Becca’s.”

I think you could safely call our song choice eclectic. Also fitting would be schizophrenic or ??. Styx, Motley Crue, The Carpenters, Metallica, James Taylor, Chris Tomlin, Guns N’ Roses, Simon & Garfunkel, Hillsong, Earth Wind & Fire, The Mamas & the Papas. If a song makes us happy, we add it. One of the favorites on my playlist is Blackbird, by The Beatles:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free

This song was written about the Civil Rights movement; it’s clearly a perfect anthem for the people of that time, and for anyone who’s had their dreams derailed, delayed, or denied. This is the beauty and power of words; they can elicit change and better the path of an entire race, or they can encourage a single despairing writer. Notice that Sir Paul doesn’t tell us to sit around passively hoping for our time to come. Take these broken wings and learn to fly. We all have difficulties: full-time day jobs, unsupportive family, writer’s block, learning disabilities, physical ailments. Whether we’re crippled or disadvantaged or downright oppressed, we have to work with what we’ve got to reach our goals. Arrival requires running, walking, limping, or crawling our way onward until we reach our destination.

So be encouraged today. Don’t give up the struggle! And know that one day you will arise, and you’ll know that that magical moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived.

*****

One of my moments occurred in May when The Emotion Thesaurus was published. Today, I’m celebrating by posting an excerpt on Melodrama at Susanne Drazic’s blog, Putting Words Down on Paper.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  9. marlarosebrady says

    “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.
    Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung.
    Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
    It’s easy.
    There’s nothing you can make that can’t be made.
    No one you can save that can’t be saved.
    Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
    in time – It’s easy.”

    I love blackbird. the beatle lyrics above make me realize there is nothing that can be written which has already been written.

    LOL—but I can learn how to play the game, after all as sir paul says, it’s easy.

    i just need love!

  13. Angela Ackerman says

    Wonderful post, Becca! It is so easy to suffer discouragement in this business, and so important we remember why we are doing this, and that we can do it if we stick to it!

  14. Barb says

    I love that song and your post is very inspiring.

    (I could add “There hasn’t been any good music since the 60s”* but Stevie Wonder started his best work in the 70s, so it isn’t really true.) 🙂

    * quote from The Big Chill