I believe "Remember the Mountain Bed" is one of the most beautiful and sad songs ever written. Woody Guthrie's lyrics are sweet and also heart wrenching. Jeff Tweedy's raspy version on "Mermaid Avenue" is amazing.
This song reminds me of the cycles of life and love. The references to the beauty of nature tangled with his love for this woman are warm, lovely and thoughtful. He remembers her so vividly and tenderly. "I see my life as brightest where you laughed and laid your head." He was his best with her. He reflects on the time with her as a time of brilliance, pure happiness and passion. For some reason, he wasn't able to spend his life with this woman. If you are not able to be with the one you love the most, it feels like a death. There are times of intense sadness and grief. (in many ways it is worse than experiencing a death, because you torture yourself that things could be different. With death there is no choice.) Even though love can bring us so much pain, in the end our lives are so much richer from the experience of knowing and loving this person. Our grief gradually becomes more bearable as we learn to let our true love go.
We realize as life goes on that our love for this person never goes away. Clearly this man loves this woman still. I am sure she was never far from his thoughts. He has his memories and no one can take them away. Our lives can forever be altered by looking into the eyes of the one we love. "I could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none in me." This woman was perfect in his eyes. Woody Guthrie is so right when he wrote that love is our greatest reason for being here. (And, I believe a person can come into our lives to teach us many difficult lessons about life and love.) The idea of this man going back to this special and gorgeous place, reflecting on his life and remembering the love he experienced, is something I am sure we can all relate to on some level. His memories are simultaneously beautiful and painful. Life has been a struggle for him. And although he does have comfort with his family as life continues on, he will never be the same from knowing this woman, from loving her, and from ultimately (and for whatever reason) letting her go.
I believe "Remember the Mountain Bed" is one of the most beautiful and sad songs ever written. Woody Guthrie's lyrics are sweet and also heart wrenching. Jeff Tweedy's raspy version on "Mermaid Avenue" is amazing.
This song reminds me of the cycles of life and love. The references to the beauty of nature tangled with his love for this woman are warm, lovely and thoughtful. He remembers her so vividly and tenderly. "I see my life as brightest where you laughed and laid your head." He was his best with her. He reflects on the time with her as a time of brilliance, pure happiness and passion. For some reason, he wasn't able to spend his life with this woman. If you are not able to be with the one you love the most, it feels like a death. There are times of intense sadness and grief. (in many ways it is worse than experiencing a death, because you torture yourself that things could be different. With death there is no choice.) Even though love can bring us so much pain, in the end our lives are so much richer from the experience of knowing and loving this person. Our grief gradually becomes more bearable as we learn to let our true love go.
We realize as life goes on that our love for this person never goes away. Clearly this man loves this woman still. I am sure she was never far from his thoughts. He has his memories and no one can take them away. Our lives can forever be altered by looking into the eyes of the one we love. "I could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none in me." This woman was perfect in his eyes. Woody Guthrie is so right when he wrote that love is our greatest reason for being here. (And, I believe a person can come into our lives to teach us many difficult lessons about life and love.) The idea of this man going back to this special and gorgeous place, reflecting on his life and remembering the love he experienced, is something I am sure we can all relate to on some level. His memories are simultaneously beautiful and painful. Life has been a struggle for him. And although he does have comfort with his family as life continues on, he will never be the same from knowing this woman, from loving her, and from ultimately (and for whatever reason) letting her go.
@tomorrowisalongtime nailed it
@tomorrowisalongtime nailed it