Keeping the Faith

I want to talk about "Keeping the Faith", one of my favorite Billy Joel songs.

I love this song, not just for how it sounds or because it makes me tap my foot. I love it because this song totally embodies reminscing about the old days. Granted, Billy Joel's old days are a bit older than mine. So when he sings about a tight pair of Chino's and combing his hair in a pompadour, I don't so much relate to that part. It's the message of the song to which I can relate.

I attended "Back to School" night last night at our first grader's school. I listened to a principal speak in a hot gym with ancient windows and got to sit at a tiny desk. The desks have not changed a bit, by the way. It reminded me of how I used to try to keep the inside of mine as organized as possible when I was in my organizational phases as a kid, and how it was a mess in my messy phases. You know, with stray papers hanging out of it and school supplies strewn about.

Anyway, attending this was bittersweet. It makes you feel a little old, but it's pretty cool to be on the other side of it now. I tried to focus on how cool it was.

This brings me back to the song.

"You know the good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems..."

I love this line.

Life just is. Sometimes there's no greater or deeper meaning that we tend to search for. Yeah we long for the good old days, but think back a bit. I don't know about you, but for me- childhood, puberty, adolescence, those times weren't all rosy. In fact, sometimes it was downright tough. Never the less, you're pretty void of responsibility and fun is a lot easier to stumble upon. But being a grown-up isn't so bad either.

So what have we? Not much. Life just is. Good times, bad times, love, heartache, fun, and people that come and go.

Sometimes the best times are the simplest:

" .....Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights but it taught me how to lose O.K
Oh, I heard about sex but not enough
I found you could dance and still look tough anyway,
oh yes I did...
I found out a man ain't just being macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food
Drank a lot of take-home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl in the Chevrolet
Oh yeah, we were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, keeping the faith..."