Research?

So I'm doing research on the lyrics to High Cost of Low Living, and I come across the connection between Soren Kierkegaard and Gregg Allman.

I called it research so I can keep up with the current trend of making everything sound more important than it is. Who could ever have predicted that euphemisms would become the premier mode of expression in this sweet land of ours?

The first verse of High Cost goes like this: "You're the life of the party, everybody's host, still you need somewhere you can hide, all your good time friends and your farewell to has-beens, Lord knows, just along for the ride."

Those words sparked some sort of connection in my smoke-filled, delicately marinated brain. Eventually I thought I remembered something Kierkegaard said. I did more research and came up with this:

 "I have just now come from a party where I was its life and soul; witticisms streamed from my lips, everyone laughed and admired me. But I went away--yes, the dash should be as long as the radius of the earth's orbit---------------------------------and wanted to shoot myself."

Soren Kierkegaard lived from 1813 to 1855. Gregg Allman was born in 1947 and is still alive and kicking. I'm pretty sure they never ran into each other.

But you never know.

Sweet Jesus, this is the beauty of the creative spirit.

We get lost in our misery and confusion and wind up feeling so damn alone. Our souls search for some sort of justification but we cannot break through the shroud.

If you want to find the common thread of humanity from its inception through November 21, 2013, dig into art. Poetry, music, literature, painting, plays, movies.

You will find the same themes expressed in a million different ways.

All of humanities frustrations expressed sometimes eloquently, sometimes sparingly, over the course of 200,000 years.

Relative to the sycophant theme, original caveman wall literature translates: "Do you love me or are you using me?"

Jesus himself looked around the  guests at the last supper and wondered "Who's got my back?"

It is a comforting thing to know that, whatever you are feeling, you can dig a little deeper and find a greater mind than yours expressing what you cannot find the words for. Sometimes the very elegance of those words can improve your mood.

The human condition, baby. There ain't no cure for it.