12-20-18
It’s been a week. I had every intention to let this be the first easy, less demanding, and less heavy of a week—I realize now that with a theme like awe there’s only go big. Ok, lesson learned. With that being said I must confess that this image is less than complete, but I suppose this project is also a practice in acceptance. Most works I’ve ever attempted have rarely ever felt “complete.” I could work on most anything for days, weeks…years. With that in mind, I do have every intention to revisit many pieces as time allows, this being one of them.
It’s actually fitting that with a song like Damien Rice’s It Takes A Lot To Know A Man I would have to process through the acts of inspiration, and acceptance of constraints. That compounded with the responsibilities of the season leave little room for obsessing over details. Obsessing over details has always been something I struggle with, as I know many who do, sometimes the feeling is near impossible to control.
This was one of the earliest songs chosen for this project. Upon its release in 2014, it became instantly one of my favorite songs. Since then it has been major support through many pivotal moments of my life. In 2016 La Blogothèque (an amazing youtube music channel) filmed Damien Rice with Cantus Dominus performing an intimate show for three extremely lucky people. Damien along with a choir of a few dozen people sang the song acapella within the confines of a tiny stone room, (video provided for your viewing ease). Ever since viewing that version of the song I don’t know if there’s a day that has gone by where I don’t have part of it rattling around my mind.
Like much of Damien Rice’s work, the emotional well runneth deep with It Takes A Lot To Know A Man. Through dissecting the major archetypes we see all around us, and some of the most intimate trials we all share, he creates an ode to the human condition.
Lyrics:
It takes a lot to know a man
It takes a lot to understand
The warrior, the sage
The little boy enraged
It takes a lot to know a woman
A lot to understand what’s humming
The honeybee, the sting
The little girl with wings
It takes a lot to give, to ask for help
To be yourself, to know and love what you live with
It takes a lot to breathe, to touch, to feel
The slow reveal of what another body needs
It takes a lot to know a man
A lot to know, to understand
The father and the son
The hunter and the gun
It takes a lot know a woman
A lot to comprehend what’s coming
The mother and the child
The muse and the beguiled
It takes a lot to give, to ask for help
To be yourself, to know and love what you live with
It takes a lot to breathe, to touch, to feel
The slow reveal of what another body needs
It takes a lot to give, to ask for help
To be yourself, to know and love what you live with
It takes a lot to breathe, to touch, to feel
The slow reveal of what another body needs
It takes a lot to live, to ask for help
To be yourself, to know and love what you live with
It takes a lot to breathe, to touch, to feel
The slow reveal of what another body needs
What are you so afraid to lose?
What is it you’re thinking that will happen if you do?
What are you so afraid to lose?
(You wrote me to tell me you’re nervous and you’re sorry)
What is it you’re thinking that will happen if you do?
(Crying like a baby saying “this thing is killing me”)
What are you so afraid to lose?
(You wrote me to tell me you’re nervous and you’re sorry)
What is it you’re thinking that will happen if you do?
(Crying like a baby saying “this thing is killing me”)
You wrote me to tell me you’re nervous and you’re sorry
Crying like a baby saying “this thing is killing me”