Beautiful Day

'Funny how a song can bring you right back to a particular period in your life.

There are songs that I can't even listen to because they remind me of a difficult time, and the sadness sweeps right back over me. Many songs that were popular when I was unhappily married the first time make me want to cry and I have to turn them off. Then there are the songs from high school ... memories of parties, sports bus rides, the static-filled art room radio, my bedroom stereo with the mountainous speakers. College songs are a mixed bag of good and (very) bad, and I can remember the exact reasons why I either love the song or hate it.

2001/2002 was an incredible span of time in my life...
August 2001: kicked out the bad guy
September 2001: you know what happened
October 2001: my dear Oma suddenly passed away
... divorce proceedings ... paperwork ... lawyers ... court dates ... raising my son alone ...
March 2002: my divorce was final
July 2002: I met the sweetest man
October 2002: my dear Dad suddenly passed away

Every song I hear from that period takes me back to that very bitter-sweet time in my life. Driving down the road and cranking the radio was therapy for me, and many songs were empowering. How can you sing along to Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive and NOT feel powerful??

On the way to work this morning, I heard U2's Beautiful Day, and I was brought back to a very specific day in the spring of 2002 when I was driving down the rural Niagara County roads singing along to the song and feeling excited about my new life unfolding before me. It was early spring, complete with muddy fields and dirty patches of snow - and beautiful sunshine.

The heart is a bloom 
Shoots up through the stony ground 
There's no room 
No space to rent in this town 

You're out of luck 
And the reason that you had to care 
The traffic is stuck 
And you're not moving anywhere 

You thought you'd found a friend 
To take you out of this place 
Someone you could lend a hand 
In return for grace 

It's a beautiful day 
Sky falls, you feel like 
It's a beautiful day 
Don't let it get away 

You're on the road 
But you've got no destination 
You're in the mud 
In the maze of her imagination 

You love this town 
Even if that doesn't ring true 
You've been all over 
And it's been all over you 

It's a beautiful day 
Don't let it get away 
It's a beautiful day 

Touch me 
Take me to that other place 
Teach me 
I know I'm not a hopeless case 

See the world in green and blue 
See China right in front of you 
See the canyons broken by cloud 
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out 
See the Bedouin fires at night 
See the oil fields at first light 
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth 
After the flood all the colors came out 

It was a beautiful day 
Don't let it get away 
Beautiful day 

Touch me 
Take me to that other place 
Reach me 
I know I'm not a hopeless case 

What you don't have you don't need it now 
What you don't know you can feel it somehow 
What you don't have you don't need it now 
Don't need it now 
Was a beautiful day