But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you

Nope, didn't learn about this from Three Billboards, but rather from my Grandad's copy of Voulez-Vous that he gave to me probably not long after it came out. Maybe he didn't care for it, maybe he expected it to line up more with the less disco-y Arrival. What I do know for sure is that I was, even at 10 or 11, pretty floored that he even bought himself an ABBA album.

Strength and solidarity. Or a message you can send to/hear from yourself.

Making the life that I had seem suddenly shiny and new

We all want someone or something to appear in life and make every path forward and back clear to us.

Living in the gap between past and future

Well, if it's so deep you don't think that you can speak about it
Just remember to reach out and touch the past and the future
Well, if it's so deep you don't think you can speak about it
Don't ever think that you can't change the past and the future

You might not, not think so now
But just you wait and see, someone will come to help you

 

I drift back in time and I find my feet down on mainstreet

I know this is a creepy song about a dude obsessed or worse with an exotic dancer, but I was listening to it while reading and seeing a few photos about the old days and it's really just about nostalgia when you transpose the relationships in the scenario. In my case, it's me and the neighborhood. It's where I belonged, even if it was hard. All things were still possible.

I play to win.

Applicable every day, to everything.

Still, every day, I play to win.

Well, everybody better move over, that's all

I got my back to the wall.

Or at least some semi-permanent bitch face.

I miss the mountains...except those were crowded, too.

Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows

As a child, this song moved me.

Now, in the winters, I think of the seeds and bulbs sleeping.

Maybe it's because of this song.

Don't know what a slide rule is for

I am more interested in why the little birds are dipping into that trash can outside of the university student center than deep research and outcomes. And hard work.

Maybe this is hard work.

Just slide behind the wheel, How does it feel?

We may not want to right now, but we do. So, let's just think of this place as a place that can give us the grief and turmoil of today, and James Brown. Hand to hand, across the nay-chun.

There are better, bigger, deeper cuts to choose today, but going back to the mid-80s, when everything from who your enemies were to your shoes was clear.

It could only make you stronger

Mmm-nnnh. Mmmm-nnnh.

Expect the best of/from your collaborators. Give the best of yourself. Model what you want to see. Be them before they show up. Your tribe is out there, even if you hack away at it all alone for a long time.

I don't know or want to know where the drive crossed into being fueled by pain and chemicals more than just the drive, but he chased it and left the lab as much as he needed to.

Get your shit done at home and then get out there.