25. Brokedown Palace

The Dead are back with a song about death, but don't let that discourage you because it is a beautiful song and that outweighs the theme. Despite the topic it brings me a feeling of peaceful joy. Hopefully that same feeling exists when the time comes for us all to rest our bones many many years from now, but enough of the sad talk. 

 Maybe it is the melody, the wailing pedal steel or the harmonies, but for some reason when I hear it I just can't be sad.  I love the lyrics and the reference to our aging mortal vessels as broken down palaces. Ain't that the truth. I continue to close in on that supposedly monumental 40th revolution around the sun, and as I do I can see that the lower back of this palace is breaking down.... Not sure what it is or what it was that caused that, but damn this back of mine does not like the morning these days. I am sure it has nothing to do with sometimes treating my body more like a trailer than a palace in my younger days. Nevertheless, it was all worth it good or bad. In the good there was joy and in the bad there was something to learn from or a lesson to one day share as a warning to the kids. I swear to God I am a lucky man. I've gotten more lucky breaks than I can even count and I somehow have the life I've always dreamed of. I swear I have more luck than a heads up penny at the end of a rainbow tied to a rabbits foot beneath a horseshoe. Again I digress... if the data for an American male born in 1981 are to be believed then I am well past halftime in this game we call life so something was bound to start hurting at some point.  It sure went fast though. I remember thinking I would never be old enough to drive or go to college and that was yesterday. Today my oldest is a decade old and my youngest is closing in fast on double digits. Jason Isbell once sang, "Life moves slow when your 17 and then it picks up speed at 21."  It gets a hell of lot faster after that. 

Anyway, this song starts off slow and then picks up speed too. It is best listened to on sunny day with a warm breeze hitting your face as you sit by a lake and the sounds of this song and the world rock your soul. When you do  listen I hope you smile and remember all the friends and faces that have given you a reason to be happy over the years. I know I do and I know I love them all more than words can tell. When the song ends I hope you do what I will do, walk away happy knowing how Goddamned good it feels to be alive.