Monday, August 26, 2013

Notes on "Black Cloud" - track 6 from "because there's nothing outside", companion piece to the book 'god in chains'



Black Cloud is many people’s favorite song on the album- perhaps on the song’s own merit, but maybe also because it’s the first sign of light after the first five tracks which, I admit, are rather heavy (as if “Black Cloud” isn’t a heavy title itself!). 
I like the contrast of speaking both of a flood being held inside oneself as well as a sun- I think it’s M. Scott Peck who said that we can’t shut down our grief without also shutting down our joy- any shut down goes in both directions.  And so, if a person is operating primarily from one of control, which in my perspective is usually some attempt to avoid grief, that person is most definitely restricting him or herself from experiencing joy as well.  That was a strange discovery for me- I had a picture of what joy and happiness would look like, but when I got there it was something completely different, and if I had held onto my prior beliefs about joy, I would have never gotten there. 
The universe, god, reality, whatever, seems to always be offering much more than I am willing to receive- I try to find the places where I am not receptive and let go of my need for control- I do the letting go, the opening up.  I’m the one who has to open the door because I am the one who has shut it. Imagining that it is locked by someone on the other side is a deception-- a distraction from acknowledging the fruits of my own doing and the choice I have to undo it.

Mark Davis, San Luis Obispo, August 26, 2013


BLACK CLOUD


Black cloud hanging up above
and I’m thinking ‘bout the flood I’m holding in
She falls soaking into me
and I’m thinking that it’s time that I begin

Have I been looking for the key
to a door that’s never locked never been?
If it’s really only me
I’m thinking that it’s time to let me in

Black cloud hanging up above
and I’m thinking ‘bout the sun I’m holding in
She shines soaking into me
And I’m thinking not to join in is a sin

Have I been looking for the key
to a door that’s never locked never been?
If it’s really only me
I’m thinking that it’s time to let me in

I’m gonna get out of the way
I’m gonna get out of the mood
I’m gonna get off of this train
I’m gonna get into that big wide room
Big wide room, big wide room…

Black cloud hanging up above
But I’m thinking now your love is gonna win
No use digging in the mud
For an answer that’s still blowing in the wind

Have I been looking for the key
to a door that’s never locked never been?
If it’s really up to me
I’m thinking that it’s time to let me in


C 2011 Inkling Music, music and words by Mark Davis

markdavisandtheinklings.com
godinchains.com

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