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The Good Ol' Days

from Journeys by iFollow

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about

A nostalgic and inspiring Spoken Word track about memories.

lyrics

Ah, the good ol’ days
One of the classic ways that we refer
To a phase of life we’ve gone through
We reminisce about the things we miss as our mind plays tricks on us
Fulfilling some secret wish to give the days of our past meaning
We trust our memories to carry us off
Adrift in the seas of what we think there was
Or could have been. But what really are the good ol’ days?
Some glowing beacon that we pull out of the haze of life’s uncertainty? When we’re freaking out because we’re certain
We had less breaches in our curtains and walls
During past last calls and speeches about how tall our fame reaches
Is it all a misremembered dream
That we hold in high esteem
Because it makes us feel as though freedom wasn’t always out of reach? What if they’re not what we think?
What if the good ol’ days are back when you first realized you could control your hand
With your brain.
Imagine the wonder in your underdeveloped mind
As you realize that you fingers are little servants
Nervous little soldiers that you can send into battle
To defend your favourite rattle from the enemy
Your sister
Oh the battles we’d have with our sisters
Or brothers. Or fathers, or mothers
The things we used to fight about before ‘real life’ smothered us
Now seem so small and trivial
But we felt so witty all the times my friends and I
Built cities and forts where girls were not allowed
We vowed hatred so many times
As if the cold shoulder
Was something we could hold out with for eternity.
But when it came down to show and tell
They were part of the mould for every story we told
Until we were old enough to learn how to lock them out
And I’m not talking about all of the shouting matches
I’m talking about the scenes
Where we’d play catch with our dreams
We’d toss love back and forth like a baseball
Sharing every part of ourselves as we etched them
Onto each others hearts so that we wouldn’t forget
We painted the portrait of our lives in those games
And sure, sometimes they were kind of lame
But we came into this world with nothing but a name
And we had to decide for ourselves
What parts to leave on the shelves
And what parts to give to the little elves
That were going to craft us into the person we’d grow up to be
Decisions like that are way too big
For one little person to handle
So we’d go to our sisters. Or to our brothers
Or even, sometimes, to our fathers or mothers.
Remember the days when our blankets were invincible?
When it mattered not what monsters were hovering above us
Because as soon as we crawled underneath our covers
We were safe
Safe behind our impenetrable force field
Until mom and dad would see the make-shift bat signal
We had made out of a flashlight and some black paper
Because once that happened, we almost felt sorry for the monster
After all, it was about to get flattened
Rolled up and tossed out
Before it had the chance to do so much as shout in surprise
In hindsight, it really was quite silly of that monster
I mean, how dumb do you have to be
To come out of the ONE closet
That happens to be right down the hall
From the mightiest man of them all: MY dad
Didn’t the monster know that my dad could SO beat up its dad?
Or your dad, or anyone else’s dad for that matter
Remember when all our dads had black belts?
Any time we felt threatened
We’d pelt that bully with a weaponized assault of our father’s greatest hits
Bits and pieces of stories pulled back from glory days
The chips and creases edited out in the most impressive ways
Because reality was far too frail a tool
To describe how powerful dad really was.
Remember the first time you ever had a ‘crush’?
Remember the way your heart would gush every time
You shared a touch with them?
We’d offer to share our lunch money in some
Awkward attempt at romance, because
Even though we had never shared a glance with that person before
Suddenly there was something more
That made us want to take a chance
To take a chance at ‘liking’ girls
Even though I’m pretty sure every little boy swears that they will never
Reach that stage, in spite of everyone telling us it was inevitable
But suddenly the sky parted
And the coodies disappeared
And even when she farted
You smelled that stench through rose coloured stained glass windows
Or, at least, I think that’s how the saying goes
Gravity always felt so much stronger when they weren’t around
Like you were held to the ground by a lack of anywhere better to be
But when he came near… See
You always knew you could fly
It’s a desire you had locked deep inside
So that no one would ever find it
And now you try to suppress it again but it’s got wings of its own
And before you know what’s happening it’s flown the coop
Suddenly everything you do seems like an oops
And you become painfully aware of all the things
You never used to care about
Like if he found out what your hair looks like
After a muggy summer day at the lake, would there still
Be a chance of him asking you out on a date?
It’s funny, the way hindsight works
When we shine a light on our past in the midst of present hurts
It makes even the most painful phase of life
Seem like the good ol’ days
But what if that’s not it?
What if the good ol’ days aren’t even in the past at all?
What if the songs that we’ll call good
In the soundtracks of our lives
Are the songs that have not yet been played?
What if it’s not that we’ve arrived
And left a place where we should have stayed
But that we haven’t paid the time it takes to reach the good ol’ days
How many hours have we let slip, gazing in rear view mirrors
Tripped up by our fears of what may come in future years?
What if the good ol’ days are something we need to build?
And they will only be attained once we are filled with more than pain
Once we are thrilled by more than our own gain
That’s when our days will be good
When we refuse to live our lives in vain
But instead we love the way we should
You see, some of us need help to cope
When our hearts are full of lead
And we are those that need the hope
That there are better days ahead
Because sometimes the present seems like anything but a gift
And if we’re to lift ourselves out of resentment
We need something more effective than our past
So raise the anchor
Hoist the mast
Aside is not where we’ll be cast
In sight of waves
In spite of gale
If life’s ahead
We will not fail

credits

from Journeys, released June 16, 2015
Lyrics, Vocals and Ukulele - iFollow

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about

iFollow Winnipeg, Manitoba

iFollow is an independent artist based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He brings to the table a unique and refreshing blend of hip hop, folk, spoken word, and acoustic stylings that weave their way from light-hearted and gentle to powerful and poignant. Being a fan of a whole gamut of musical genres himself, variety is the name of the game and iFollow hopes to deliver something for everyone. ... more

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