There is no other place that I spend more time thinking than in my car. I live on the other side of town from all my friends and activities so I tend to have a minimum of some twenty minute long drives to just be. I usually spend this time listening to my favorite music and singing along as loud as humanly possible. For those who don’t know me to well this means there is a solid 99% chance I’m screaming along to Dave Matthews Band. This ALSO means that I really only have time to listen to one DMB song hahaha. (songs tend to run about 15+ minutes. )
The song I’ve been listening to the most is from a recording of the concert I went to in November. The song is called The Last Stop. This version of the song runs about 17 minutes long. I consider it my escape. The song for me is time travel back to one the most exciting moments of my life. As a little set up the show was the last show of the tour in Charlottesville, Va, the bands hometown. The band is taking 2011 off from touring so the shows were “a big deal”. This song was supposed to be the last song they played (they came out for a double encore) and it really had a goodbye feel to it. When I listen to this version of the song however I don’t listen to the whole thing. I listen to the very end of it. A part called The Last Stop Reprise. (go to 9:13)
That is from the show.
The lyrics are as follows
Come in from the noise for a while
Leave your troubles outside
Come in from the world for a while
Everything will be alright
Everything will be alright
Everything will be alright
So goodbye
So goodbye
So goodbye
Come in from the noise for a while
Leave your troubles outside
Alright
Goodbye
Not only does that take me back to such an amazing moment but it’s such a relaxing few words. The next thing you hear is the crowd of thousands clap along to the very end. And then Dave comes back to the mic and sings a verse from “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. (the video at 12:16)
Rise up this morning
Smile at the rising sun
Three Little Birds
on my doorstep
singin’ sweet songs
of melody pure and true
Everything’s gonna be alright.
This song…This freakin song has popped up everywhere in my life lately.
For New years, I got together with some of my closest friends and went out to Kleman Plaza to watch the ball drop and bring in the new year. There was a live band there when it hit 2011. They started up this song. Saying “Let this be your song for 2011”. The company I had with me was more than appropriate.
Two Weeks ago I went to Young Life’s college weekend where I spent so much time thinking about everything that was going on in my life that I didn’t truly take the time to enjoy it. My mind was constantly having conversations in my head. I do that. I spend hours upon hours thinking through conversations that I may never have with people. Particularly girls. Go figure. I have the most just ridiculous arguments or life changing conversations with people in my mind OVER AND OVER again. The past month or so certain things have been just getting at me. Really bothering me. And I spent that entire weekend thinking of ways to approach the thing. I then returned home got on my computer and decided to do what I always do when I’m under stress….listen to more music. My buddy who likes to be called Chester Copperpot had uploaded an old Dave and Friends show onto youtube. I decided to watch the whole thing. At the very end during the encore, Trey Anastasio of Phish randomly asks Dave if he would play a song for a friend of his….I don’t need to say what song it was do I?
I was invited over to a movie that night so I left my house and drove across town….in silence. No music. I drove for a good ten minutes then I just started to sing. Over and over again. “Don’t worry, About a thing, Cause Every Little Thing….is gonna be alright.” I sang this all the way across town as loud as I could. And then Like a lightning bolt. I was given clarity. Clarity on every little thing that was bothering me. Like a punch to my chest I saw a glimpse of a path I was supposed to take. One that would ultimately change my future.
God showed me information that I had been choosing to ignore. It hit me and it hit me hard. Fewer moments in my life had given me more peace than this. My troubles were gone because God showed me what he had waiting for me. Why worry about the past when you’ve seen the future? I mentioned in my last post that there was a moment in my life where God truly spoke to me. My body felt empty, like I had crazy chills but no goosebumps. From time to time usually at church or when I’m praying I get little jolts of that feeling. They always come about when I feel surrounded by something that is truly holy. After being given clarity I told God that every day of my life I will pray for this. Immediately after saying this I was hit by one of those jolts so hard that I swerved into the other lane. The sheer fright of it made me realize this was real and not just my own thoughts. I then got a text from a friend addressing the exact thing that I had realized with the words that followed saying “I felt like god was telling me to tell you this”.
This is my message to you:
Don’t worry
About a thing
Cause every little thing
Is gonna be alright
DevonBailey.com 