My theme song for the moment:

The temperature today with the humidex was in the low 40's C. In spite of the heat and the breath-taking humidity, I took my bike out and went for an hour long bike ride ...

Along the way I listened to my MP3 player and the various pieces of music that it has on it ... One that played as I rode out the highway north-east of town, alone in my thoughts was the song "A River So Wide" by the Canadian Celtic Band The Tiller's Folly. (I've written about them previously - they are a favourite since I first encountered them at a wedding reception in BC back in the day ...)

There is something about both the words and the melody of the song that have always spoken to me. Today as it played while I pedaled along the highway it resonated more deeply within me. I decided to post the lyrics here to share, but when I found them on the web site for The Tiller's Folly, I read the introduction and understood WHY I felt connected to this song ...

The introduction reads:

The title track of our upcoming CD, "A River So Wide" is a song drawn from personal experience. The law of Karma dictates that what goes around will eventually come back around. It's also a song about getting #%*# over and coming out the other side. Eric offers some exquisite slide work which plays nicely off Nolan's mandolin.

Hmmm ... I don't know if I can relate to this song too well right now ...

So, now for the lyrics of the song:

Well the water is deep and the river is wide

Never seen it boil & churn'til I was swept deep inside

So what you gonna do when it's all sinks in?

No one's there to thrown you a line

And now it's sink or swim in that river so wide

Well I'd never been lost in the forest so deep

Never stepped such a treacherous path

Or seen a fall so steep

Standing alone when the wolves closed in

If you ever wanna get outta this

You better see you don't slip in the forest so deep

And time will grind down the hardest heel

And when every dog has had it's day

you're gonna know how it feels

Well I never once dreamed that I would see a day

When the people I called my friends

Would just turn & walk away

You can go on believing the worst until it's all you see

You can spread your rumours around

And point the fat finger at me, you know it's alright

I'm staring at the clear blue sky

And time will grind down the hardest heel

When every dog has had it's day

You're gonna know how it feels

Well I swear I've never seen that river so high

Never seen such a turbulent tide 'til I was swept up inside

It's whacha gonna do when the walls close in

Before you hit rock bottom boy

You better know how to swim

The river's so wide

The river so wide

(music and lyrics by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN))

If you want to hear a snippet of the song, and learn more about The Tiller's Folly then click here (then click on the side bar "lyrics A-B" and find A River Runs Wide ... and you'll be magically transported to their website ... Take some extra time looking around and learning more about a relatively unknown Canadian band ...

As for me ... tomorrow will be a new day ... I'll embrace it as it comes ... and create it to be a good one ...