This song has been in my head today which means it is asking to be heard. I grew up with The Monkees and Saturday children’s and teen shows. Age appropriate fare that included humor and often good music. (We won’t talk about Road Runner and Wile E.Coyote right now.😉) I was in love with Davy Jones from the time I was nine and it went on through my teens. I always loved this song, so here it is for you.
"Shades Of Gray"
When the world and I were young Just yesterday Life was such a simple game A child could play It was easy then to tell right from wrong Easy then to tell weak from strong When a man should stand and fight Or just go along
But today there is no day or night Today there is no dark or light Today there is no black or white Only shades of gray
I remember when the answers seemed so clear We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear It was easy then to tell truth from lies Selling out from compromise Who to love and who to hate The foolish from the wise
But today there is no day or night Today there is no dark or light Today there is no black or white Only shades of gray
It was easy then to know what was fair When to keep and when to share How much to protect your heart And how much to care
But today there is no day or night Today there is no dark or light Today there is no black or white Only shades of gray Only shades of gray
‘Today there is no day or night. Today there is no dark or light. Today there is no black or white...only shades of gray.’
Life is changing inevitably. It is up to we, the dreamers of this Illusion, to paint the canvas anew and awash with every color that exists. It is up to every one of us to create the world as it was imagined, filling it with the Unconditional Love of the All That Is...a love that does not barter, forsake, expect, judge, retreat, choose sides or abandon. . Let’s honor the sweetest memories of our past by creating a balanced and secure future for all those who share the path.
When I was in elementary-or grade-school, depending on what region of the country you grew up in, we had regular weekly visits by the music teacher. These were the golden days of my school years, those days when we got a reprieve from the brain strain of Mathematics and Science. The reading was always dandy with me. History is fun, but the memorization of dates and locales detracted from the joy of the events for me.And I don’t have enough space or time to express my joy over art sessions.
Back to music...we were taught some amazing folk ballads and they really made an impression on my young child/old soul’s heart. The song I am highlighting here is one of those special ballads, a piece of personal expression almost too melancholy for the frivolous and too prophetic for the old and weary. For me, it speaks of every person’s journey in this Illusion we call life.
For the detail oriented among you (Dan 😉) I am including a bit of history from Wikipedia. Then there is the ballad, calling to my soul now more than ever. Hearing it in the movie Lost Child on Amazon Prime struck a chord inside me and I have been singing it over and over. I’m sharing its message with you here.. Open the door to your soul and have a listen.
From Wikipedia:
The Wayfaring Stranger" (also known as "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" or "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger"), Roud 3339, is a well-known American folk and gospel song likely originating in the early 19th century[1] about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. As with most folk songs, many variations of the lyrics exist.
It has been speculated that "Wayfaring Stranger" may have been derived from "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," a folk song from the Scottish Borders.[2] However, the fact that the two songs differ entirely in subject matter calls the theory into doubt.
According to the book, The Makers of the Sacred Harp, by David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan, the lyrics were published in 1858 in Bever's Christian Songster. This may have been the first time the song appeared in print, in English. Steel and Hulan suggest the song was derived from an 1816 German-language hymn, "Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden" by Isaac Niswander.[3]
During and for several years after the American Civil War, the lyrics were known as the Libby Prison Hymn. This was because the words had been inscribed by a dying Union soldier incarcerated in Libby Prison, a notorious Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia. It had been believed that the dying soldier had authored the song to comfort a disabled soldier, but since it had been published several years before the Civil War had started (and before Libby Prison existed), this was not the case.[citation needed]
