I think this song may be one of the most accurate descriptions of depression I've ever heard. Some days, going to a friends house for a few hours to hang out feels like a huge win. The song just feels like a tribute to all of the tiny victories that make up getting through a day.
i love this song, and have loved the original even longer, and i don't know you but if you love this song then i love you too. i feel moved to warn you though, not to confuse this one line about company and self-mercy easing depression, with the whole song being about depression. in the context of the album's story, the song is about the final stages of traumatic (romantic) grief. no one consciously 'finds the exit' to depression. you can't decide to quit depression, you don't just have enough of it one day, or complete a process where you've sanitized the trauma that ends it for good. the grief itself, of which depression is a symptom, is a process which completes with time and consideration, while depression is a difficult continuum which comes and goes given a lot of environmental and internal factors besides grief. to confuse the two is a dangerous mistake, and a common misconception about depressed people is they can "just stop one day" when they get tired of it. look at it this way: depression is trying to manage the complications of living inside a burning house you cannot for some reason escape from; getting past a grief is walking away from the burning house when whatever holds you to it is over and you are able to escape. the latter is something most of us eventually do, and what john is talking about, with the song's theme of isolation and consideration and finally seeking old company as completing some transformation. the same which the pebble plant (a lithops) makes-- painfully splitting open, from a rock-like stub which blooms into a beautiful cactus flower. this event is over for john, but depression related to new things will come and go with whatever new things arrive in life. it seems like a trifle gripe, but the terminology is important-- not just for outside perspectives on people suffering from either condition or both, but for understanding the causality and nature of depression. i hope you aren't still struggling with the same causes for your depression, but i also hope you've picked up tools in the time inbetween to better manage it when something else comes along to manifest this symptom. not all depression has a cause we can identify like a black-and-white trauma or grief process. for those people-- especially if you're one of them-- i hope knowing the difference helps. this song has definitely helped me in times where i realized something was coming to an end and it was time to let go.
I heard this song on NightVale, and honestly it’s beautiful, and I know it’s not the original and although I love The Mountain Goats, I think I like this version a bit more
Lyrics: After one long season of waiting After one long season of wanting I am breaking open My insides are pink and raw And it hurts me when I move my jaw But I am taking tiny steps forward And I feel sure that my wounds will heal And I will bloom here in my room With a little water and a little bit of sunlight And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy The big trucks come up the highway And the big wheels rattle my windows And night, night comes to Texas After one blind season alone in here After one long, sweltering summer I'm going to find to exit And I will go to the house of a friend I know And I will let myself forget With a little water and a little bit of sunlight And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy [etc]
*Sips coffee* this is some great weather we're having.
I think this song may be one of the most accurate descriptions of depression I've ever heard. Some days, going to a friends house for a few hours to hang out feels like a huge win. The song just feels like a tribute to all of the tiny victories that make up getting through a day.
i love this song, and have loved the original even longer, and i don't know you but if you love this song then i love you too.
i feel moved to warn you though, not to confuse this one line about company and self-mercy easing depression, with the whole song being about depression. in the context of the album's story, the song is about the final stages of traumatic (romantic) grief.
no one consciously 'finds the exit' to depression. you can't decide to quit depression, you don't just have enough of it one day, or complete a process where you've sanitized the trauma that ends it for good. the grief itself, of which depression is a symptom, is a process which completes with time and consideration, while depression is a difficult continuum which comes and goes given a lot of environmental and internal factors besides grief.
to confuse the two is a dangerous mistake, and a common misconception about depressed people is they can "just stop one day" when they get tired of it.
look at it this way: depression is trying to manage the complications of living inside a burning house you cannot for some reason escape from; getting past a grief is walking away from the burning house when whatever holds you to it is over and you are able to escape. the latter is something most of us eventually do, and what john is talking about, with the song's theme of isolation and consideration and finally seeking old company as completing some transformation. the same which the pebble plant (a lithops) makes-- painfully splitting open, from a rock-like stub which blooms into a beautiful cactus flower. this event is over for john, but depression related to new things will come and go with whatever new things arrive in life. it seems like a trifle gripe, but the terminology is important-- not just for outside perspectives on people suffering from either condition or both, but for understanding the causality and nature of depression. i hope you aren't still struggling with the same causes for your depression, but i also hope you've picked up tools in the time inbetween to better manage it when something else comes along to manifest this symptom. not all depression has a cause we can identify like a black-and-white trauma or grief process. for those people-- especially if you're one of them-- i hope knowing the difference helps. this song has definitely helped me in times where i realized something was coming to an end and it was time to let go.
I heard this song on NightVale, and honestly it’s beautiful, and I know it’s not the original and although I love The Mountain Goats, I think I like this version a bit more
I heard it in nightvale too !
Same same same
Lyrics:
After one long season of waiting
After one long season of wanting
I am breaking open
My insides are pink and raw
And it hurts me when I move my jaw
But I am taking tiny steps forward
And I feel sure that my wounds will heal
And I will bloom here in my room
With a little water and a little bit of sunlight
And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy
The big trucks come up the highway
And the big wheels rattle my windows
And night, night comes to Texas
After one blind season alone in here
After one long, sweltering summer
I'm going to find to exit
And I will go to the house of a friend I know
And I will let myself forget
With a little water and a little bit of sunlight
And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy [etc]
NightVale!
Momento Mori and good night, Night Vale. Good night.
This is beautiful. :-D
Long live Night Vale, long live Diarrhea Planet, and long live everyone I know!
Please put the lirycs on the description