Something for Thursday

A short song today, but a favorite of mine.

Sheila O’Malley often sets her music player to “shuffle”, and then she will post the list of songs that it plays, with comment. I always look forward to these posts, even if I usually don’t have a lot of knowledge of the songs she mentions. This one, however, I know quite well: “Lodi” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

CCR is one of my favorite bands of all time, and The Wife and I have an odd ritual where whenever CCR comes up in the background of our daily lives — car radio, music in a store, whatever — I have to say, “CCR!” Just one of those weird things…but this song isn’t usually one of the ones that comes up in general listening situations. I’m not sure why that is, but “Lodi” is a sad song about failed dreams, about what happens when life doesn’t meet our expectations. It’s along the same lines as the famous admonition (by John Lennon?) that “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

The lyrics to “Lodi” are simple, but the words are so perfectly chosen to the song’s message: “Rode into town on a Greyhound, I’ll be walking out if I go”; “You know I’d catch the next train back to where I live”…that last is a killer. “Where I live”. By this point, our singer’s been stuck in Lodi for a very long time, and yet, it’s not where he lives. He still believes this is temporary, a hitch in the plan. But we know: You live in Lodi now. Lodi’s home, Lodi’s the best you’re ever gonna have in this world.

Here’s “Lodi” by CCR.

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