Halfway There

Listen while you read:  Hurray for the Riff Raff!

Walked down the street
Hold my head up high
Everywhere I go
Someone tells me a lie
A lie
A lie
A lie

Mothers and babies
Well, they're both the same
Oh, they're born to each other
And they're given a name
A name
A name
A name

Rain starts to fall and
Like the leaves on the trees
And everywhere you go
Someone's down on their knees
Begging please
Please
Please

So we sing a song
And we say a prayer
And someone says
"Baby, you're only halfway there."
Ooh
Ooh
You're halfway there

~  Alynda Lee Segarra (Hurray for the Riff Raff)

Referred to as an "acoustic spiritual," this song appears on Hurray for the Riff Raff's 6th album, The Navigator, just released this past spring. Alynda Segarra is the lead vocalist in the band, and according to NPR, her "morning-after alto might be the least showy great voice to hit the national scene this year." Segarra has the chops to make a statement. Leaving her home in the Puerto Rican section of the Bronx when she was 17, she lived my dream of hopping freight trains across the country. She landed in New Orleans, where she formed her current band, Hurray for the Riff Raff. Their music might be categorized as "politically-charged folk-rock," but I think it's just music about people, although most of them appear to be kind of down and out.

Take today's song. It's not exactly cheerful, is it? I guess it's how you look at it. Maybe it's akin to seeing the glass as half-empty or half-full. Is it good to be "halfway there"? Or is that not far enough? It appears that the word "only" plays an important role at the end of the song.

And, of course, there's a reason I chose this song today. It wasn't to bring you down! Today's post is the 183rd post of 2017. And what does that mean? I'm halfway there! I have successfully opined about a song every single day for half a year. (Well, except for March 8, which was "A Day Without a Woman" and I followed my political heart to help make a statement. We can call that post "half a post" and I'm still halfway through the year!) Wait, does the fact that some of you have been reading this for half a year kind of blow your mind? I know how you feel . . . I mark the rapid passing of time by my dentist appointments. Every six months, I find myself in a prone position with a crinkly paper towel chained around my neck, being poked and prodded by the dental hygienist. And I think, "Wasn't I just here last month?" I swear, we live in a time warp.

So if you aren't sick and tired of me yet, we have another half year to listen to some tunes, study some words, and contemplate their meanings. I'll keep writing whether you keep reading or not, but it's certainly more fun knowing someone is out there paying attention to my rambling! Thanks for your participation so far. Baby, I'm only halfway there!