6.19.2012

when you're done with this world

Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 - John Mayer.

I like to listen to this song with my eyes closed. Pure brilliance.

This song I love for many reasons. Point one, it is a story about a man who is building his own little submarine (that alone should automatically put this song somewhere in your top25!). Point two, this man believes that this submarine he is building will be strong enough to carry him across an ocean - dream big people. Which leads to point three, it inspires us to follow our dreams. Point four, our journey will not be without disappointments, mockery and trouble - Walt Grace was called 'crazy' even by his wife. Point five, the story leaves us with some uncertainty and room for our own interpretation (for those who have read the lyrics and want to know my thoughts - I believe that he is the one making the call to his wife from Japan and therefore he didn't die). Point six, the man has created his own legend. Point seven, it has an amazing tune and drumming/marching beat. Point eight, it is performed by the one and only John Mayer. And finally point nine, it undoubtedly contains one of the best quotes I have heard in a while:

"Cos when you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you."
- Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967, John Mayer


The next is up to you.

Have a dream? Great, go live it.
Wanna create that piece of art? How about picking up that paintbrush.
Had an arguement with your friend? Pick up the phone and apologise.
Not hearing from God? Open your bible.
Got split ends? Book that hair appointment already. (I need to take my own advice on this one!)

The next is up to you.

Tonight I read through Psalm 13. I feel that this Psalm is a seasonal verse and at some point in our lives we will have the chance to relate word for word. It is a season of desperation, anguish, pleading and frustration. Sound familiar? If you simply look through the first four verses, well, things are pretty darn bleak:
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him, ”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But. (Possibly one of the most hopeful words in the english language). The next is up to you.
But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for He has been good to me.
- Psalm 13:5-6
Your attitude is everything. When the world throws all it can at you and you feel like you couldn't possibly handle anymore, what is your reaction? Will you be like Walt Grace and jump into your handmade submarine anyway, or will you let this sense of defeat become a self-fulfulling prophecy? Will you give up? Or will you give in to God? Because despite Him being seemingly silent and hidden, there will always be a 'but'.

But...well, the next is up to you.

Walt Grace, desperately hating his whole place, 
Dreamed to discover a new space, and buried himself alive,
Inside his basement, tongue on the side of his face meant,
He's working away on displacement, and what it would take to survive.

'Cause when you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you.
And his wife told his kids he was crazy, and his friends said he'd fail if he tried,
But with a will to work hard, and a library card,
He took a homemade, fan-blade, one-man submarine ride.

That morning, the sea was mad and I mean it,
Waves as big as he'd seen it, deep in his dreams at home.
From dry land, he rolled it over to wet sand,
Closed the hatch up with one hand, and peddled off alone.

'Cause when you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you.
And for once in his life it was quiet, as he learned how to turn in the tide,
And the sky was a flare, when he came up for air,
In his homemade, fan-blade, one-man submarine ride.

One evening, when weeks had passed since his leaving,
The call she'd planned on receiving, finally made it home.
She accepted, the news she'd never expected,
The operator connected, a call from Tokyo.

'Cause when you're done with this world, you know the next is up to you.
Now his friends bring him up when they're drinking, at the bar with his name on the side,
And they smile when they can, as they speak of a man,
Who took a homemade, fan-blade, one-man submarine ride.
- Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967, John Mayer

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