The Lost Life
Check out “The Lost Life” on my Sellaband profile. Just select the song and click play.
The title of the song, “The Lost Life”, has a double meaning for me. It obviously refers to living a life under (or off of) the radar, but it also references a personal loss that I’d experienced around that time. I needed to get away from everything that was familiar. I felt as though I needed to start all over again.
I think everyone experiences the feeling of just wanting to disappear into the shadows at some point in their life. We all get there. At the time I wrote this song I never wanted to be found again. I was thinking…”get across the ocean and never come back”. Sometimes it doesn’t matter where you go. I ended up in western Europe. It felt nice being out of touch…living outside the perimeter. Breaking the paper bag was freedom and I smiled myself to sleep every night.
I learned a great deal during my 6 years abroad, but I guess the most important thing that I learned was there was no geographical cure for me. I found myself inside that paper bag again. My world grew smaller and more confined…and worse I was still missing whatever I was looking for. For me, there was nothing past the wide horizon but more of the same. I’d written most of the lyrics two or three years before I ever considered recording the song . It never felt complete until after I added the words that reflected this learning about the wide horizon. These days it feels pretty complete…as do I.
Incidentally, there a “sister” version of this song with completely different lyrics. Maybe I’ll post it someday.
The Lost Life
I’ve gone too far, I’m out of touch
And now I live my life in a paper bag
But when I tear my way out of here
I’m gonna make my way across the ocean
And no one will find me again
‘Cause I’ll be living a lost life
I’ll be living a lost life
I’m sure to send you cryptic messages
As I resurface from time to time
A few lines on the back of a photograph of me
In an undisclosed location with a local unknown
And then I will fade back into the shadow
‘Cause I’ll be living a lost life
I’ll be living a lost life
‘Cause the world is only so giving…
And child, you’re on your own
Searching from face to face with blind emotion
Choking of the fear that’s still keeping me here
And although I know I’m no exception
I’ve tried to shake this emptiness
Where ever I go I can never escape without…
Without living a lost life
Without living a lost life
There’s no reason to stay here
When I don’t know what I what
And I don’t care if I find my way back
But given time I’m sure I’m bound to find
There is nothing past the wide horizon
But a world that’s only so giving
And child, you’re on your own
Child you’re on your own…
Child you’re on your own…
Child you’re on your own…
Check out “The Lost Life” on my Sellaband profile. Just select the song and click play.