Togetherness

There are two things about Wade's little ditty, the first of which is the idea of "togetherness".

Of the song's eight stanzas, four of them (1, 2, 5, and 6) are context-setters: they ask questions or make statements about the singer's feelings about life. The other four (3-4 & 7-8) constitute two two-stanza refrains in which he presents his solution to the problem. Unsurprisingly, the "problem" is the sense of pain and frustration caused by loneliness; the "solution" is, in a word, "togetherness". It is by and through others that we become whole. And there's nothing new about this either. So what about the song got me thinking?

The theme addressed in this simple song is one that forms the heart of most modern music (and by that I mean rock & roll, country & western, rhythm & blues, and all their many variations) for as long as I've been listening. This theme has been stated, sung, spoken, crooned, warbled and shouted so often that I'm beginning to think we have simply tuned it out. I mean, how hard can it be? We all feel better when we feel and know that there are others - just one significant other - who care about us. We all feel better when we know and feel that we care about them in return, and even when it involves people who aren't even aware of our feelings. This is, in other words, something I'm sure practically every single one of us have had a some, several, or many points in our lives. In fact, I would be so bold as to maintain that it is a universal human experience, for I've seen it and felt it everywhere I have ever been.

Why is it then - and now we're getting to the reflection part - that the world's still such a nasty place at times? Why is it that so many people too often feel just like the singer of the song? Why are feelings of isolation, solitude, and loneliness so widespread? It doesn't seem to make much sense. In fact, to me it doesn't make any sense at all.

Maybe that's what's so difficult about it: it's so simple. Like the Golden Rule ... easy to say, straightforward as all get-out, and seemingly impossible to put into practice. But, I don't find that such a satisfying explanation. If we simply can't, we won't, and if we don't, there's no hope, and that's what I'm trying to avoid.

But, there is something else about the song that got me thinking, and it's what the singer sees as a pre-condition for the solution. Next time ...