On Dec. 3 I will have the joy of seeing Sarah Slean in concert at The Majestic in St. John’s. It’s been almost two years since I last saw Sarah in concert and I can’t wait to see her again.
She is by far my most favourite singer and I absolutely adore her. She has an amazing voice, an enchanting stage presence and leaves you feeling loved after every show.
I’ve had her latest CD Land & Sea for a couple of weeks now and am thoroughly enjoying both albums. But this past weekend, The Right Words from the Sea album was brought to my attention. It’s a song that can touch anyone and since last weekend, the song and its lyrics have been on my mind.
Sarah Slean singing The Right Words
You are on the right path you will realize…
I lived in Toronto for over five years and for the most part it was a great experience filled with lots of wonderful memories and great experiences, there were times I wanted nothing more than to be back in St. John’s. Some people have an attachment to where they spent their childhood. They consider it to be home and a part of them. Others are able to pick themselves up and settle into any corner of the world. They set down their roots and that is now home. Maybe they’ll need to go somewhere else, but that can easily be home and leave them content.
It was easy for me to get homesick when home was around 3,000 km away. I was envious of friends and coworkers who could simply hop in a car and go visit their family. I didn’t have that privilege when it came to seeing my immediate family.
I’m sorry to be so negative. There was much more joy than sorrow while away and that’s important to point out. If not for those years away, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have shared some amazing professional experiences and I wouldn’t have had the fortune to develop some life-long friendships. There are people who have touched my life more than they even know and even when we don’t have constant contact, I know we’re still close and just a phone call, email or online message away.
and the pain that you’ve been fighting
is an angel in disguise
it is love and love, love is wise
When the subways were clogged up, it was easy to wish I wasn’t in Toronto. When I would hear about childhood friends getting together and I couldn’t be there, I wished I wasn’t in Toronto. But it was the bigger events that really made my choice to be away very hard.
My father had heart surgery in February 2010 and I was an emotional mess leading up to the procedure. I wanted to fly home and be there for my parents, but due to work commitments and issues with the surgery (it was reschedule multiple times), we made the decision to have me stay in Toronto and not come home. Even now I know it was the best decision, but it didn’t make the pain or hurt any easier. Again, all I wanted was the ability to hop in a car…
Even when we came to Newfoundland for visits, the trips were often bittersweet. With so few hours to spend with everyone, we often found ourselves rushing around, getting stressed about who we didn’t see this visit and trying not to think about the fact that a return flight was looming. When our plane would take off for Toronto, I would sit in the plane, look out the window and fight back a few tears. This will sound foolish and dramatic to a lot of people, but it physically hurt to leave that big chunk of rock I called home.
still time to believe that a door at last will open
where the darkness used to be
Despite the fact that it often it felt like some high power was taunting me and preventing me from gong home, I knew I would get there some day. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when. We never stopped talking about that ultimate goal. It was always something that was a light at the end of the tunnel. There were a couple of occasions were we could have just dropped everything and took off to Newfoundland, but the timing wasn’t right and making that conscious choice to do that responsible thing wasn’t easy; but it was definitely worth it.
throw your heart into the ocean, throw your heart into the sea
No matter what, you need to have faith that things will work out. You may need to throw your heart into what you’re doing and sometimes you just have to take a leap and go for it. If you’re having a tough time right now, I hope this song will give you a little hope. Whatever you’re going through probably isn’t easy, but I’m willing to bet your a very strong person and even though it may not feel like it, this too shall pass. Stay strong because in the end, your door will open and the darkness will disappear.
This is why I love the song. How the lyrics connect to so many things. The lyrics to this one where actually inside the album booklet for The Baroness but it was when I first heard her sing it for the Beauty Lives album that I fell for the song.
I find it hard to pick a fav version. When seeing her live on this tour in Toronto her intro to the song seemed to indicate that her finding “The Right Words” was literally trying to find the right words to write a song.
I hope that your feeling very much at home these days and have a great time at the concert.