When a man crawled out of a cardboard box
Under the E. Street Bridge
Followed me on to it
I went out halfway across
With that homeless shadow tagging along
So I dug for some change
Wouldn't need it anyway
He took it lookin' just a bit ashamed
He said, You know, I haven't always been this way
I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did
What I thought I couldn't do
Like that plane ride coming home from the war
That summer my son was born
And memories like a coat so warm
A cold wind can't get through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments
I stood there tryin' to find my nerve
Wondering if a single soul on Earth
Would care at all
Miss me when I'm gone
That old man just kept hanging around
Lookin' at me, lookin' down
I think he recognized
That look in my eyes
Standing with him there I felt ashamed
I said, You know, I haven't always felt this way
I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did
What I thought I couldn't do
Like the day I walked away from the wine
For a woman who became my wife
And a love that, when it was right,
Could always see me through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments
I know somewhere 'round a trashcan fire tonight
That old man tells his story one more time
He says
I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did
What I thought I couldn't do
Like that cool night on the E. Street Bridge
When a young man almost ended it
I was right there, wasn't scared a bit
And I helped to pull him through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
Oh, lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments
I mentioned this in the first Songs of September post that covered the song A Long December by Counting Crows (that link will take you to the post), but I think it’s worth mentioning again, now that the month is half over and, let’s be honest, it was a great point that I made: one of the best things about music is when you find that song that somehow says everything you’ve ever wanted to say, better than you could ever say it. Now, the song Moments by Emerson Drive is one of those songs, which is why I’m sharing it with you, but it’s not the entire song. To be honest, those songs are really rare – when all the lyrics speak to me on multiple levels. However, all of the songs I’m sharing this month, and literally hundreds more (and counting as I continue to expand my musical horizons) have a line or two that paint a picture I can’t pass over.
First, I want to share with you the origin of this song. According to the great Wikipedia, it was composed by songwriter Annie Tate and her husband Sam, and came about with help from their friend and songwriting partner Dave Berg. The idea was to somehow capture people having their moments. After it was written, Sam said, "I've always wanted to write a song about redemption and how everyone has the ability to redeem themselves somehow".[1]
A feeling of redemption is definitely something you walk away with when this song ends. I also took away from it two lines that I want to share with you: “And memories like a coat so warm/A cold wind can’t get through/Lookin’ at me now you might know it/But I’ve had my moments.”
Let’s break these up. “Memories like a coat so warm a cold wind can’t get through” – what a unique and powerful way to look at something so common. Especially from the perspective of a homeless man! Instead of talking about the familiar “walk down memory lane” or “life flashed before my eyes,” the writers chose to share a few specific moments in each man’s life, and the homeless man described his as being so warm, the cold wind couldn’t get through them. Do you see it? In other words, even on the cold streets, he had warm memories from some of his life’s changing moments to keep him moving forward. All of us have those little blessings, if we just allow ourselves to see them.
The other is the line that follows that one, and that is echoed by the young man, “lookin’ at me now you might know it, but I’ve had my moments” – how true is this statement for all of us at one point or another? We all have days (sometimes stretching into weeks, months, years….) when we look beat up and rundown. Looking at us then, from the outside or from within, you wouldn’t know we’ve had our moments. But we have! And they will continue to happen, every day!
Life is made up of a series of moments. Among those are moments of brilliance. Some of us have more than others, and some don’t realize they've even happened. Then there are moments of kindness and moments of revelization. And of course, there are those moments that change your life.
I will be 32 in a few months, not terribly old or wise, sort of at the beginning of the middle of my life so to speak. While I’ve had millions of moments of different kinds, most have long since been forgotten. The ones I remember are those that had some form of significant impact on the path I was following at the time, even to the extent of changing my direction. Looking back I can see little roadside markers indicating what happened at that point, and when.
While it’s true that I don’t remember every significant life event, and I still have many more to look forward to as I learn to live each day, in the moment, there is one truth that always stands out, no matter the direction I’m heading: You’re never prepared for the moments that change your life.
1 Horner, Alan. (July 16). "Story Behind the Song". Country Weekly 14: 64
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