A Bouquet of Ifs [song video]
LIVING-ROOM VIDEO #79: “A Bouquet of ‘Ifs’”. Just completed a couple of days ago, this song takes me back to my folkie roots again, where I love to be. With my 12-string guitar too. It’s a song which, in part, reflects the saying from The Little Prince: “That which is essential is invisible to the eyes”. As one of the lines suggests, we need to go “Beyond the broken boards which blight this theatre’s floor” and “live in truth and screw all else”. It’s time to let go of the “desperate barbs” which we clasp and un-immerse ourselves from the “childish shadowlands” where we choose to dwell. Click to see and listen. Here are the full lyrics:
If I thought that you could take the truth,
I would feed it to your soul.
If I believed that this would be of use
and would fill your aching hole,
I would make a featherbed for you
of dandelions and myrrh.
But you’re too immersed in shadowland
and the child who you once were.
If you realised what lies beyond
all the desperate barbs you clasp —
if you’d only now release your hands
from the cliff-edge which you grasp —
you would find that there’s no hiding place
from the demons which you fear;
and you’d realise they must be faced
so your vision would come clear.
[Refrain]
All those “ifs” hang in the air —
Blown up balloons for you to burst.
Your own explosive questionnaire —
it’s time that those bogeys were dispersed.
If you look into your mirror’s eye
do you see a burst of light?
If not, please may I ask you why
your heart’s not burning bright?
Distracted through the snares laid by
agents provocateurs,
your liberation you deny
and wilfully defer.
If only you could turn the key
for which till now you’ve searched.
If you’d smash to bits that pedestal
on which till now you’ve perched,
then a door you never knew was there
would creak and open wide.
All the broken things would be repaired
by the Light which dwells inside.
[Refrain]
All those “ifs” hang in the air —
Blown up balloons for you to burst.
Your own explosive questionnaire —
it’s time that those bogeys were dispersed.
If we look beyond the broken boards
which blight this theatre’s floor;
if we wield our trusty secret sword
and pledge us evermore
to live in truth and screw all else
(and know such truth is real),
the ice around our souls will melt:
No more Achilles Heel.
I apologise if I’ve said “if”
a few too many times
for your liking — it’s a hieroglyph
to create new paradigms.
When we question with persistence
why we do the things we do,
then the wall within’s resistance
will just crumble through-and-through.
[Refrain]
All those “ifs” hang in the air —
Blown up balloons for you to burst.
Your own explosive questionnaire —
it’s time that those bogeys were dispersed.
© Alan Morrison, 2021
[The copyright on my works is only to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged].
The Naked Troubadour 