Tunes Tuesday: Lucinda Williams – Side of the Road

Copyright JC Politi Photography

For this Tunes Tuesday, I am going to highlight a song that makes me think of summer and love. The song I chose this week is called Side of the Road by Lucinda Williams.

Lucinda Williams has so many great song lyrics to choose from, but this particular song has always resonated with me. The song describes a feeling that is hard to put into words, but like the brilliant singer-songwriter she is, she nails it.

It also makes me think of a quote that I have always loved by Khalil Gibran, which is often read at weddings:

Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

This is the kind of romance that I want – the kind that respects the beauty of each individual and which becomes even more beautiful when the two are combined.

So, without further ado, I give you Lucinda Williams, Side of the Road.

Side of the Road
Lucinda Williams

You wait in the car on the side of the road
Lemme go and stand awhile, I wanna know you’re there but I wanna be alone
If only for a minute or two
I wanna see what it feels like to be without you
I wanna know the touch of my own skin
Against the sun, against the wind

I walked out in a field, the grass was high, it brushed against my legs
I just stood and looked out at the open space and a farmhouse out a ways
And I wondered about the people who lived in it
And I wondered if they were happy and content
Were there children and a man and a wife?
Did she love him and take her hair down at night?

If I stray away too far from you, don’t go and try to find me
It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, it doesn’t mean I won’t come back and
stay beside you
It only means I need a little time
To follow that unbroken line
To a place where the wild things grow
To a place where I used to always go

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la
La la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la
If only for a minute or two
I wanna see what it feels like to be without you
I wanna know the touch of my own skin
Against the sun, against the wind

What do you think? What song tells your kind of love story?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading!

27 Comments

Filed under Love, Music, Photography

27 responses to “Tunes Tuesday: Lucinda Williams – Side of the Road

  1. Beautiful song. And strong sentiments. Many thanks for another happy Tuesday!

  2. both the quote and song speak to me about how I think of love — not as a cloying thing, but a thing that gives you enough security to be alone too

  3. When I was contemplating the possibility of welcoming a partner into my life, it was very clear to me that I was already happy, already fulfilled, and that I was longing for someone to share my journey, to enrich my experience of life with his and who would be enriched by what I had to offer. When my sweet husband showed up, he was, and is, the answer to my prayers!

  4. Lovely post! Depeche Mode: Somebody

    • Oooh, good one!! Thanks so much for the comment!! Here are the lyrics for those who don’t know this one:
      I want somebody to share
      Share the rest of my life
      Share my innermost thoughts
      Know my intimate details
      Someone who’ll stand by my side
      And give me support
      And in return
      She’ll get my support
      She will listen to me
      When I want to speak
      About the world we live in
      And life in general
      Though my views may be wrong
      They may even be perverted
      She’ll hear me out
      And won’t easily be converted
      To my way of thinking
      In fact she’ll often disagree
      But at the end of it all
      She will understand me
      Aaaahhhhh….

      I want somebody who cares
      For me passionately
      With every thought
      With every breath
      Someone who’ll help me see things
      In a different light
      All the things I detest
      I will almost like
      I don’t want to be tied
      To anyone’s strings
      I’m carefully trying to steer clear of
      Those things
      But when I’m asleep
      I want somebody
      Who will put their arms around me
      And kiss me tenderly
      Though things like this
      Make me sick
      In a case like this
      I’ll get away with it
      And in a place like this
      I’ll get away with it
      Aaaahhhhh….

  5. Thanks for introducing me to this, I’ve never listened to Lucinda Williams before. I’m going to have to listen to more of her songs. I too enjoy that type of relational freedom that she expresses so beautifully as well as the Gibran quote!

  6. Lucinda rocks – and this song just sends me…

  7. I love Lucinda…you’ve reminded me to put her at the top of my playlist, its’ been awhile. Love this song…

  8. Love the Khalil Gabran quote…he operates on a higher plan. And love the photo. Great post.

  9. I like the words and the tune. Never heard it before, but is nice and relaxing.

  10. You did it. Your first curve ball for me as I am not familiar with this one. I do like the lyrics and the similar sentiment of the Gibran quote. We do need that space or we would stifle each other. Great choice and I have a new song to download.

    • 🙂 I thought this one might be a curveball for you! 🙂 Linda Williams is great. Once in a while she is a little too twangy for me, but her song-writing is brilliant! Thanks so much for the comment – expect more curveballs to come! 😉

  11. Sheila Lamont

    Thanks so much for the link to Lucinda’s music! I am now a fan.
    Having said that, I have always been a fan of the Gibran quote/sentiments you shared…thanks.

    To put it simply…you are so very good at putting out interesting stuff.

  12. Dear Jenni,
    I love the way this song makes it ok to wonder….to need to be by yourself…and to still love the one you are with.
    😉
    Gorgeous.
    ♥♥♥
    Love, Lis
    xoxoxox

  13. Thanks for the note back. If she is too twangy on occasion, we should not even begin to talk about Bob Dylan’s inability to sing well. But, that never stopped him from being a poet laureate. I need to check her out.

    • Precisely. She is like Bob Dylan. And if you can endure a bit of twang, this woman is pure wisdom incarnate! 🙂 So glad you are enjoying the Tunes Tuesday. I am having a blast with it too!

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