The "Nearer My God To Thee" myth persists, though. In Harry Chapin's song "Dance Band On The Titanic", he takes on the perspective of the fiddle player in the band as the ship goes down. The chorus goes "There's a dance band on the Titanic/singing "Nearer My God To Thee".
Walter Lord, who wrote books on the Titanic disaster, polled survivors on what music the band played as the ship went down. The tunes mentioned were all over the map, but a clear plurality said “Nearer My God To Thee.” So there you go!
Minor problem: the English and the American hymns with that name are totally different tunes, and the passengers were a mix of Brit and Yank. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You're so welcome, Lee. Sometimes questions are like small children and won't leave us alone until we answer. That's where this one came from, as you might guess :)
Linda, you have GOT to flag your tear-jerkers somehow. Mad me weep, made me mourn. Mentioning Juhi didn’t help, she was a wonderful lady.
That said, Titanic reminds me of a couple death-related things.
The movie came out not long before Deb & I got engaged, so I used it as an example of how, should things go very badly for some reason, Deb would get in the lifeboat and I would stay on the ship. It seemed like the kind of thing that couples should discuss beforehand, right? Correct, but not for the reason I thought. Deb’s answer: “I am not going to do that. I am not going to just walk away, not after I’ve waited my whole life for someone like you to come along. If there’s only room for one of us, then we stay together. If family is with us, we make sure they get in the boat. If someone needs life jackets, we give them ours. If someone needs comforting, we hug them and tell them everything will be okay, especially if we know that it won’t. And when the end comes we’ll be together for it, like we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, one way or another. So I’m not going to get into any lifeboat. Not without you.”
More recently (last week?) enhanced photos of the Titanic wreckage were released. Some of them showed part of the boiler room, with the auxiliary steam valves wide open. In the case of flooding, these would be closed, because hot steam + cold seawater = bad stuff. OTOH, if the ship was going down anyway, keeping aux steam going to the generators meant the lights stayed on as long as possible. All you needed was someone to maintain an eye on breaker failures as they happened, and someone else to keep shoveling coal to keep the boilers lit. Nobody knew for sure what happened to the engineering crew; nobody escaped. The evidence now shows they were keeping the lights on while the water came in around them. And I thought, yeah. That’s what I want to do. I want to be down below the waterline, keeping the lights on as long as possible, giving people a chance. I can do that. And when I do, I’ll hear Deb’s voice behind me, “Jackster! We have a problem over here! Come look!”
Jack, one day I will use a subtitle that says "Jack, this might make you cry" and then everyone will wonder who Jack is so you best raise your hand when I do that. lol.
God I miss that woman. We used to send each other the craziest long emails, I'd go make coffee and read her emails and need a refill in the middle. Half friend and half the big sister I always wished for, never had a criticism but only stories and support. Man.
I love the stuff you wrote about you and Deb. What a gift you both are to each other. I think it's what everyone wants but not everyone is lucky enough to find, I know I sure didn't. My ex would have dropped me over the side and climbed in the lifeboat without blinking an eye. lmao. And I laugh now, but the realization wasn't so funny and I do love when you share bits about the two of you in comments. Does my heart good to know that kind of love is out there and alive and well. Give her a hug and say it's from some crazy Canuck who is glad the two of you exist. :)
Linda, thank you for your stories. I enjoy the way your writing touches my heart.
I was writing on Medium, but dipped out because I could not afford the yearly, just being honest.
Art is a lovely way to express the heart indeed! I spend my days writing and painting while living. I know it all will lead to a beautiful place in the end.
Your words often seem to find me in mundane life, pull me out and connect me to the universe, to myself, to that dimension where life is not a series of problems and people and systems to manage, but a living moment, a contentedness of being, a wild poetry, and the dual fastness and stillness of time.
I love the way you phrased that, Émilie. A living moment, a contentedness of being, a wild poetry, and the dual fastness and stillness of time -- such beautifully poetic words. It's so easy to forget we are part of the universe. Words like yours help me remember
Keep making that Art. Just keep making it....like all the rest of us who are crying in the sand. I think my lion had teeth; the stars were stuck in his fur, and I couldn't reach them.
Sometimes the lion gets scared too. And maybe one day he comes back a little braver and ask you to comb the stars out of his fur. You just never know! And thank you, Marianna
The world is and artists will do what they must do- find the happy place and be in it. For us its creating. So we will. Beautiful story. I have chosen my place to watch the unraveling from. I have to remind myself that this day today was the good old days. That things are just starting to unravel and I must be prepared for accepting this humanity level for what it is. The only way out is through and the only way through is love. Everyday be that love
You are so right that the only way out is through. And artists will create and hopefully we go through and come out a better place. And if we don't, at least we'll have had the art and that's not an entirely bad outcome. :)
I wrote something very similar to this a few days ago (theme of the burning world)! It's scheduled for Substack in a few days. I'll send you a version on Medium. There must be some massive creative vibrations at work right now!
"I feel like that’s all of us. Collectively. Stunned awake, like we weren’t expecting the shock."
Yes! Absolutely. Your individual stories about this are relevant to how many of us feel during our life journeys but never more applicable than in the current quagmire we call political upheaval.
I feel I never have a response good enough for your eloquent writing. All I can say is WOW and BEAUTIFUL. So I guess I’ll say it again. Wow, beautiful 💜😊
I love this piece!🌿☘️🪴
Thank you Melanie. xo
The "Nearer My God To Thee" myth persists, though. In Harry Chapin's song "Dance Band On The Titanic", he takes on the perspective of the fiddle player in the band as the ship goes down. The chorus goes "There's a dance band on the Titanic/singing "Nearer My God To Thee".
I know, right? I wish he hadn't used that in the movie, wish he'd kept that part true.
Chapin got everything else right, though.
Walter Lord, who wrote books on the Titanic disaster, polled survivors on what music the band played as the ship went down. The tunes mentioned were all over the map, but a clear plurality said “Nearer My God To Thee.” So there you go!
Minor problem: the English and the American hymns with that name are totally different tunes, and the passengers were a mix of Brit and Yank. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you, Linda, for this. Stunning. Your words answered the question troubling my heart this morning💔
You're so welcome, Lee. Sometimes questions are like small children and won't leave us alone until we answer. That's where this one came from, as you might guess :)
Doing my best to play ragtime here.
I'm glad we have more musical choices now Sheila. lol
I like Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Tubthumping" (I get knocked down, but I get up again. You ain't never going to keep me down.)
Wow, Linda. This is beautiful but so painful I can hardly bear it.
Aww, Jan. Thank you.
Linda, you have GOT to flag your tear-jerkers somehow. Mad me weep, made me mourn. Mentioning Juhi didn’t help, she was a wonderful lady.
That said, Titanic reminds me of a couple death-related things.
The movie came out not long before Deb & I got engaged, so I used it as an example of how, should things go very badly for some reason, Deb would get in the lifeboat and I would stay on the ship. It seemed like the kind of thing that couples should discuss beforehand, right? Correct, but not for the reason I thought. Deb’s answer: “I am not going to do that. I am not going to just walk away, not after I’ve waited my whole life for someone like you to come along. If there’s only room for one of us, then we stay together. If family is with us, we make sure they get in the boat. If someone needs life jackets, we give them ours. If someone needs comforting, we hug them and tell them everything will be okay, especially if we know that it won’t. And when the end comes we’ll be together for it, like we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, one way or another. So I’m not going to get into any lifeboat. Not without you.”
More recently (last week?) enhanced photos of the Titanic wreckage were released. Some of them showed part of the boiler room, with the auxiliary steam valves wide open. In the case of flooding, these would be closed, because hot steam + cold seawater = bad stuff. OTOH, if the ship was going down anyway, keeping aux steam going to the generators meant the lights stayed on as long as possible. All you needed was someone to maintain an eye on breaker failures as they happened, and someone else to keep shoveling coal to keep the boilers lit. Nobody knew for sure what happened to the engineering crew; nobody escaped. The evidence now shows they were keeping the lights on while the water came in around them. And I thought, yeah. That’s what I want to do. I want to be down below the waterline, keeping the lights on as long as possible, giving people a chance. I can do that. And when I do, I’ll hear Deb’s voice behind me, “Jackster! We have a problem over here! Come look!”
Jack, one day I will use a subtitle that says "Jack, this might make you cry" and then everyone will wonder who Jack is so you best raise your hand when I do that. lol.
God I miss that woman. We used to send each other the craziest long emails, I'd go make coffee and read her emails and need a refill in the middle. Half friend and half the big sister I always wished for, never had a criticism but only stories and support. Man.
I love the stuff you wrote about you and Deb. What a gift you both are to each other. I think it's what everyone wants but not everyone is lucky enough to find, I know I sure didn't. My ex would have dropped me over the side and climbed in the lifeboat without blinking an eye. lmao. And I laugh now, but the realization wasn't so funny and I do love when you share bits about the two of you in comments. Does my heart good to know that kind of love is out there and alive and well. Give her a hug and say it's from some crazy Canuck who is glad the two of you exist. :)
I don't know Jack or Deb but just reading his comment and yours made me cry.
Linda, thank you for your stories. I enjoy the way your writing touches my heart.
I was writing on Medium, but dipped out because I could not afford the yearly, just being honest.
Art is a lovely way to express the heart indeed! I spend my days writing and painting while living. I know it all will lead to a beautiful place in the end.
Thank you!
Teresa, I love that you spend your days writing and painting. I can't think of nicer ways to spend time. And thank you, too.
Stay blessed, Linda! xo
A wonderful piece of art to begin the day. Thank you.
Your words often seem to find me in mundane life, pull me out and connect me to the universe, to myself, to that dimension where life is not a series of problems and people and systems to manage, but a living moment, a contentedness of being, a wild poetry, and the dual fastness and stillness of time.
I love the way you phrased that, Émilie. A living moment, a contentedness of being, a wild poetry, and the dual fastness and stillness of time -- such beautifully poetic words. It's so easy to forget we are part of the universe. Words like yours help me remember
Keep making that Art. Just keep making it....like all the rest of us who are crying in the sand. I think my lion had teeth; the stars were stuck in his fur, and I couldn't reach them.
Sometimes the lion gets scared too. And maybe one day he comes back a little braver and ask you to comb the stars out of his fur. You just never know! And thank you, Marianna
The world is and artists will do what they must do- find the happy place and be in it. For us its creating. So we will. Beautiful story. I have chosen my place to watch the unraveling from. I have to remind myself that this day today was the good old days. That things are just starting to unravel and I must be prepared for accepting this humanity level for what it is. The only way out is through and the only way through is love. Everyday be that love
You are so right that the only way out is through. And artists will create and hopefully we go through and come out a better place. And if we don't, at least we'll have had the art and that's not an entirely bad outcome. :)
I wrote something very similar to this a few days ago (theme of the burning world)! It's scheduled for Substack in a few days. I'll send you a version on Medium. There must be some massive creative vibrations at work right now!
Right? All the rattling of the world is fueling more art. You'll email the link, yeah? That way I can come read where it pays. lol
I just submitted it to On Reflection :)
What else can we do? Keep it up! Asimov said something like, "Writers are people who can't not write..."
He was so right, Chuck. Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing this, but the simple answer is exactly as you said. Because I can't not.
"I feel like that’s all of us. Collectively. Stunned awake, like we weren’t expecting the shock."
Yes! Absolutely. Your individual stories about this are relevant to how many of us feel during our life journeys but never more applicable than in the current quagmire we call political upheaval.
"God I miss that woman..."
The one I miss, I made her laugh. She made me love.
I feel I never have a response good enough for your eloquent writing. All I can say is WOW and BEAUTIFUL. So I guess I’ll say it again. Wow, beautiful 💜😊