Some Get Wise

So much sky in these eyes                           Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7 G#°
Looks like heaven just a-rolling by            Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7   E7
Feel the sound of the sun going down       Am  A°   Gmaj7   E7
Sweet melodies, all around                          A7 — C  D7

Some get wise, some get old                        Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7 G#°
All that glitters well it isn’t gold                  Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7    E7
Feel the sand slipping through your hand    Am  A°   Gmaj7   E7
Try and understand if you can,                       A7 — C  D7

How the world alive on every side               C  C#°   G7—
It’s no wider than your heart is wide           C  C#°   G7 —
Always dreaming on the bottom line          Am  A°  G   E7
Only trouble when I think it’s mine             A7 C   D7

Some get old, some get wise                     Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7   G#°(instrumental)                                             Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7   G7

People tell you just be here now                 C   C#°   G7   G13
No one’s ever gonna show you how           C  C#°   G7—
How to kiss the hour as it flies                   Am  A°  G   E7
How to hold the flower as it dies               A7 C   D7

Some get old, some get wise                      Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7 G#°
Look around, and some see paradise       Dsus4   D7/G#  Gmaj7   E7
Paradise is all I see                                       Am  A°   Gmaj7   E7
When you are close to me.                          A7  D7  G

©Doug Hendren 2021

We are born into the middle of a story. It keeps going on when our time comes to step out. Since 1950, when I was born, life in the US has gone from unbridled postwar optimism to an increasingly frenetic, polarized, uncertain dream. The rich are richer than ever, while the fabled American middle class is shrinking. There is corruption and distrust in our leaders, extending even to the highest court in the land. Meanwhile, the juggernaut of climate breakdown gathers speed, and the window of opportunity is small indeed.

What’s a person to do? Greeting each day with a good heart and a good will is not always easy. Yet wisdom traditions from all times and all cultures advise us to do our best with no thought to the outcome, and to trust in the universe. “God’s time is not our time.”

In these lyrics, I borrow a line from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s extraordinary poem “Renascence” (my 3rd stanza, line 2), and nod to William Blake’s “Eternity.”  Easier said than done!