Leave It Open

The Japanese say that men (and they mean males I think) have 3 selves, the one they show to the world, and the one they reveal only to those who are close to them, and the one that is known only to themselves.

The Dreaming scared me when I first heard it (the entire CD did scare me a little, but the title track scared me a lot!). The sounds and the words blended and combined in ways that I thought was portraying, displaying, and/or promoting evil. When I learned what the lyrics were to the song the Dreaming, it did not scare me much anymore. And I gotta say, it probably still should!! So its a cool song about driving in Australia, yeah? I was digging it. But I also knew from the lyrics that it was about the exploitation of the land, the domination of the aborigines, the power and corruption of the outsiders lost in the outback. And the feeling that they just might be "in over their heads" and soon to come to no good end.

Before you think that maybe I am writing about the wrong song, let me explain: "Leave it Open" is like other songs on the same CD, including "The Dreaming". It sounds scary, evil, weird, and a little bit supernatural or surreal. Like the cover art, I guess!!

Then when you listen long enough to hear the words, or you read them and try to understand, it seems to be more normal, rational, accessible. But the song itself shows that the topic is indeed about something scary. The song -- its impact -- is meant to have an effect on the listener, kind of like a good horror movie.

So, what is "Leave it Open about? Well, I think its about choices and growing up. Kids nowadays get a lot of stimuli. Bombarded might be a good word to use. And as we grow up, we can mirror our surroundings, become noisy and pointless in some ways. Some people even become deeply committed to irrelevance. But seeking meaning and depth is a desirable end, yes?

The "ego in the gut" seems to mean lack of awareness, seeking what you want and having self-will, but not recognizing (or not being able to exercise) self-control. A "babbling mouth", like an overactive mind, can prevent clear thought and communication, and lead to bad things. God gave us 2 ears and one mouth perhaps because he wants us to listen twice as much as we talk, hmph? Thus the baby becomes a child.

Innocence might not recognize evil or might not know better than to "talk to strangers" and so that unlocked door could let "a trigger come cocking". Scary stuff -- the phrase has a depth of meaning that could make any parent lock their doors to protect the family, no matter how old your kids might be!! The songwriter reveals in short flash of light something that smells badly of sex and violence. Keep it shut is the best advice she can give. And thus a child becomes a teen.

Materialism: "my wide eyes would keep and dust things that decay and things that rust." So very well-stated and needs little explanation. Instead of wanting more and more, seeing what others have, allowing greed to enter our brains, keep those wide eyes shut. Again, not bad advice, but the threat to our well-being is more than we really understand. So the music makes the words as scary as they ought to be. And thus the teen becomes a young adult.

"Harm is in us?" sounds almost like a question at first, soprano, rising in pitch, and maybe somewhat hysterical. Realizing our limitations, our weaknesses, our ability to be self-destructive, and recognizing the existence of threats, evils, and darkness in the world, gives us "Power to arm" (the ability to do something about it). Short-hand lyrics for a process that should continue if we want to grow and mature even more. Both a map of where we have been and what is yet to come. Thus its a chorus AND a bridge. heh.

Anything and anyone we don't understand, the religious beliefs we disdain, the ethnic groups we have prejudice towards, the lifestyles we abhor.... all of these are bad and wicked and worthy of "narrow mind would persecute it, [even] die a little to get to it". IMHO the "get to it" indicates causing even just a little bit of discomfort without regard to what lengths one may have to go ("die a little"). But have an open mind. Save yourself the trouble. Let the hate go. Don't break your neck to point out the mistakes of others, or your perception of their weakness, or your fear of the differences between you and them. Getting deep here (and countering the "groupthink" of our age): Tolerate even the intolerant! Leave behind the high school cliques. And thus the young adult becomes a man or woman.

At some point you can no longer blame mom and dad. Finally, corruption is fully seen and confronted. Everyone sometimes exhibits cruelty. We are capable of trying to control others, to make someone miserable, to extract revenge, to be mean for the sake of being mean. "We have met the enemy and he is us". Ignoring the suffering of our fellow human beings "watched it weeping but I made it stay" seems to indicate also a hardening of our hearts. "But now I started learning how" to leave it open. Freedom most precious, as in "If you love something set it free, if it comes back to you then its like love returned. If it does not, then it may not have truly been love after all." And so the man or woman begins to gain empathy.

Harm is in us!! (our communities and those in them are sometimes dangerous and so are we ourselves sometimes!)

Harm in us but power to arm. (Even though evil is real, recognizing it is the beginning of an ability to prepare and guard against it).

All this to finally arrive at the enigma: "We let the weirdness in".

So once we have figured out what to keep shut and what to keep open, then what else is there be learned? What remains? ...... Trust.

If you are going to build bridges, have healthy relationships, be an "overcomer", forgive yourself, grow up, overlook the sins of others, survive the poison of the snakebite, fear not the sudden destruction, and still be open to learn, live, love, then what are you letting in? Its not of you. It is not you. It is the different one. It is the foreigner. It is the opposite sex. It is the handicapped. It is the sinner. It is "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".

Fleeting emotions! Thoughts that control us! I command you to submit, be under control of a mature and spiritual individual !

It all looks so weird to the little one. Each step of the way, a new concept seems out of reach, odd and unacceptable, difficult or unknown to the point that it could easily be rejected automatically. This is where growing up stops. Unless you are willing to let the weirdness in.

Feelings come and go. Thoughts can be controlled. Sanity, wholeness, atonement ("at one" - ment) is available. But not if we remain alienated, alone, separate, afraid, and unwilling to try anything new. We have to accept ourselves, even when we burp and fart and pick our noses and when our underwear sags and a wart, mole, or birthmark shows through. Even if you are handicapped, rich or poor, simple or wise, dropout or doctorate, we all have to get over it and let the weirdness in.

Reach out to that homeless one. Talk with the person sitting on the bus next to you. People don't need money, or a government program..... they need people. You might look just as weird to them as they do to you!!

Someone who is autistic can be gifted with a brilliant mind. Someone with Down's syndrome can have the most loving heart. Someone with an affliction you don't understand might have wisdom, joy, prayer or other gifts you also do not understand.

Another visitor, in the comments listed above, quoted Kate Bush as saying (in regards to this song "Leave it Open"): "....you should be able to control your levels of receptivity to a productive end..."

Be receptive.