“When I’m Gone”
And I won’t feel the flowing of the time when I’m gone
All the pleasures of love will not be mine when I’m gone
My pen won’t pour a lyric line when I’m gone
So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here…
-Phil Ochs
I’m a huge fan of sixties folk singer Phil Ochs; his song lyrics are some of the most literate, thought-provoking poems I’ve ever come across. A couple of my particular favorites are “Is There Anybody Here”, a searing anti-war song, “Power and the Glory”, an aching, hopeful but critical look at America, and the song quoted above, “When I’m Gone”, which is a very philosophical song about the power and importance of now.
There is no better time than the present. This simple adage is an important part of my own worldview. It’s a rather Buddhist viewpoint, but not exclusive to Buddhism of course. Too many governments and organized religions urge us to smother ourselves in the expectation for a world beyond this one, to shun the pleasures of this world and not put great stock in the problems, just because it is fleeting. The fact remains that no one knows whether another world will follow after this one, and any figure who claims authority on this is lying. Sometimes the lie is perfectly well-intentioned: to comfort, to urge people to behave better, to cultivate faith in something permanent and lasting. Often, the lie is simply to control people, through shame of their actions or their bodies in this life. Either way, I feel that I must remember that no one is an expert on life or the afterlife. Others could be right, and could be wrong. In the meantime, there is a beautiful world before me now, a life with incredible opportunity that I have been given, and I don’t intend to waste it. While I’m here, I want to shout, sing, dance, write — write more than anything — learn and love — love, along with writing, probably what I want to do most — and I don’t want to be inhibited by the thought of retribution or judgment when it’s all over. Who knows if I will ever be given the gift of consciousness in this world again? This post, while a bit of a sidetrack, is a reminder for myself and anyone who’s interested not to waste the here and now.
All my days won’t be dances of delight when I’m gone
And the sands will be shifting from my sight when I’m gone
Can’t add my name into the fight while I’m gone
So I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here
- Phil Ochs
Great to see another Phil Ochs fan. Some other songs along the same themes you may want to check out, if you haven’t already, are “Song of My Returning,” “A Toast to Those Who Are Gone,” and “Song of a Soldier.”
Very well written and thought provoking. The Buddhist point of view, i.e. the eternal present/now is supported by physics (quantum in particular but not exclusively). Time is fluent with the past present and future co existing. However, as the author of 2 books with a 3rd on the way on parapsychology (True Tales of the Paranormal; More True Tales…) I have done intensive research on the subject of near death experiences which is a misnomer as the people were not near death. they had actually been pronounced dead. Physics states that energy does not die, it changes form. Therefore, I tend to be in life after life in whatever form it manifests.
Oh boy, BLH, I just started crying when I read those Phil Ochs lyrics. (This blog entry is one of the “you might also like…” on the ‘photo unavailable’ of 6/3/11. That’s why I’m back here in 2007.)
I got to see Ochs a few times & loved his songs. We played them in my bombed-out student co-op at UC Berkeley. This particular song just always reminds me of how sad we all were when he died. Big surprise, right?
I’m definitely with you on the whole afterlife question. No one has ever gone there and come back, and thus been able to tell the living what to expect. (No, not even Jesus.)
Personally, I think it would be terrifying NOT to die. If you think on it awhile, you get shivers imagining this same life going on and on eternally.
“Bicentennial Man” (of all movies!) dealt with this ‘built-in’ expectation of death we have as humans very well. I recommend it. And I don’t usually like Robin Williams at all.
L&K, MaryB