Two Songs

I downloaded a couple of songs from iTunes this week. Well, more than a couple--four or five actually. But two of them are related. I didn't realize they were until today. Musically they are both from 60s rock bands--although these songs were recorded in the 70s. The first is from Faces titled Ooh La La. It is a fun two chord tune about a grandfather's advice to his grandson about women. (Basically that they are nothing but trouble and you shouldn't let them control your heart--sound advice, if you ask me.) It has a great hook--a chorus that sticks in my mind.

I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger.
I wish that I knew what I know now when I was stronger.

It is a great tune, one that gets a lot of play in my car and on my iPhone/iPod.

The second song is by the Kinks called (I Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman. Ray Davies sings,

Woke up this morning, started to sneeze
I had a cigarette and a cup of tea
I looked in the mirror what did I see
A nine stone weakling with knobbly knees
I did my knees bend press ups touch my toes
I had another sneeze and I blew my nose
I looked in the mirror at my pigeon chest
I had to put on my clothes because it made me depressed
Surely there must be a way
For me to change the shape I'm in
Dissatisfied is what I am
I want to be a better man

Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman
Superman Superman I want to be like Superman
I want to be like Superman
Superman Superman wish I could fly like Superman

You may have heard this song when you have gone dancing at your local club. Uh, you don't go clubbing? Neither do I. So I asked Leah my Dancing Daughter to dance to this song. She always makes me laugh and feel good when she dances.

(Dick Clark would have said, "Great beat, good to dance to. I'd give it a 10.")

So, what do these songs have in common? They both call for me to long to be something I'm not. They both cause me to want what I don't have. The second, Superman, is a look in the mirror--and what do I see? A nine-stone weakling with knobbly knees. I wear clothes, literal and figurative, because what I see in that mirror makes me depressed. So I wish I could fly like Superman.

Superman, Superman--I want to be like Superman.

But when I look in the mirror again, I don't see Superman. I keep on wishing, and I keep on seeing the knobbly-kneed weakling.

Then I listen to Ooh La La. Great song. I really could listen to it over and over and over.

I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger.
I wish that I knew what I know now when I was stronger.

Oh how true. Someone recently wondered if there is anything I don't know. I laughed, knowing that the little I know is really a lot of useless crap. But I thought, There is one thing I would like to know--how to make a time machine. I would go back, say to my college days. There are decisions I would make differently. Or not make at all. If I knew what I know now when I was younger and stronger I would be able to make better decisions, change the outcome some big things in my life.

Two songs, same verse. I want to be someone I am not. I want to play "what if." What if I had made better decisions? What if I were a better person? What if I were Superman?

Then I was reminded--reminded that God is the God of the living, not the dead. He is the God of "what IS," not "what if." God, says Luis Palau, is never disillusioned about us, because he has no illusions about us. So he is not put off by my knobbly knees. He does not look down on me because I made decisions that I think, in hindsight, not the best. God does not live according to past, present or future. All days are today for Him, all moments are "now." He has no regrets. Why should I carry mine around when He does not?

So, I will enjoy Faces and the Kinks. Crank them in the car. Laugh as Leah dances like Superman. But I do not need to let the lyrics live in my heart.

Music--the heartbeat of life.