When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand
and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there
to brighten up even your darkest nights.
You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,
you've got a friend.
If the sky above you should turn dark and full of clouds
and that old north wind should begin to blow,
keep your head together and call my name out loud.
Soon I will be knocking upon your door.
You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there.
Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? People can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you. Well, they'll take your soul if you let them,
oh yeah, but don't you let them.
I was at a gig yesterday night. It was a Thanksgiving performance at a Live-house by my friend Ray Lin and another Christian singer called Ying-ying. It was a good night, though a little pricey. 400NTD for the entrance and all you get is a non-alcoholic drink. Sound and lighting was generally professional though, ok correction, maybe the lighting was good, but the sound could have been more balanced.
THAT time of the month is pretty near, so I know I'm more emotional and irritable than general. So when they sang 'You've got a friend' for the encore, I teared. I was thinking of the words and how they are actually so idealistic and not quite true. After living in different cities for the past 7 years, you know this first hand. Friends don't actually come running when you call out their name. They often don't pick up when you call them. They don't even reply your sms's. They might not have time for you when you need it. Humans CANNOT be there for you most of the time. The only people who could probably live that out say 70-80% of the time are lovers/spouses and family [parents+maybe siblings]. And the only person who can do that 100% is God. But even He is invisible.
Sometimes people wonder why I'm pretty spread out in my network of friends. Well, they are all needed by me, or they need me in one way or another. There are friends to hang out with, friends to edify, friends who edify you, foodie friends to eat with, friends who can help you in tough situations but never hang out with you normally, friends who need your help, life-group friends, shopping friends, muso friends...etc. They are all different groups of people. Hard to limit yourself to one group or you'll be alone for most of your activities save that one that they do.
This is why most people want to get a partner or get married, because only a life-partner, or a temporary lover would at least be available because of the drive of romantic love or commitment.
'Friends' come behind work commitments[usually], family commitments, ministry commitments etc.
'Lovers' trump all these commitments. They usually [not always] come first, at least for a short 2-year-period while romantic love lasts. Maybe that's why the divorce rate /break-up rate is so high too. By the time the romantic love fizzles away, the status of being a partner is lowered too. [obviously it should not happen in healthy, long-lasting marriages].
Reflecting recently that if it weren't for Facebook and Skype, good-byes would be more definite when one moves location. I'm wondering what would happen if I didn't take the initiative to contact anyone. If I just left my Facebook account dormant. Like, why does the responsibility to update people and keep up friendships fall on my end all the time? Do I have to be constantly calling people to catch up, emailing, sending updates just make sure people don't forget about me? Sounds pretty desperate. Most of my friends just give me reasons like, "I'm so terrible at keeping in touch. Sorry". Does that mean anything solid though? It just means that the friendship is not worth going the extra mile for because everyone has their own lives. Just reality? It's like really crap, because I spend a lot of time, money and effort trying to maintain and build friendships with people.
Maybe singers should stop writing such unrealistic songs. Haha. Only good for feel-good gigs and events.
Or maybe the only one it should be sung to is God.
Just a little lonely. Oh, I have plenty of people to keep me company here. Thank God for them. But I have to be so careful all the time it sucks. From my experience, it takes at least a year of constant interaction before someone's true colours emerge. I've only been here for 7 months. And besides that, I've kept most people of the opposite sex at arms length because I'm in no position for any serious relationship, so that naturally decreases the friendship opportunities as well.
Wondering if I should give all this effort a rest. Maybe I should just leave it fatalistically. Let whoever wants to contact me contact me. I've done my bit for so long. It's tiring.
Ah, sorry for such a depressing post. It's just reality.
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