“Set Adrift” is a set of lyrics I wrote from March through September of this year. It represents a state of mind or a state of being. This is my outlet for stuff that’s been on my mind and heart but I feel I can’t talk about in other ways. Either I’m not good with this subject matter in other forms of expression or I never have the occasion to speak about it.

I’m not much of a musician. I can’t really sing well (although I try a lot). I have very little experience with putting together songs or writing actual music. Consequently these songs have a slim chance of ever being fully realized. I knew that writing them. Really, I can’t properly call these songs nor myself a songwriter. But I can’t quite bring myself to admit that I’m a poet either.

But that’s totally what I am. This is lyric poetry. For whatever reason I don’t tend to look as favorably on poets as I do on lyricists. It’s just not as cool.

I’m posting this mainly because I know some people out there can relate. Hopefully some of them will see this and it will make some sort of impact. But if not, I am happy enough to have written it for me.

In the circles I’ve run in historically, it seems like people don’t tend to address people’s hearts. We talk about “how was work/school/your day?” “How is your family/friends?” Small talk is most talk. Even among close friends the conversation is sometimes quite banal. Sometimes you need that. But mostly I find that heart-to-hearts are lacking. I hope this is not the case for you.

Perhaps mine is an especially needy heart. I think most of us are more needy than we let on. Damn that human tendency toward self-sufficiency! It is a lie. We need God and we need one another.

In this stage of life which I’ve described as “set adrift,” it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the plethora of choices that can and will be made in determining our own personal futures. In my case, I’m facing these many life choices in the absence of a deep personal connection with any one person and in a culture which procrastinates on big, tough decisions. This is as much my fault as it is circumstantial. I’m not trying to complain about how things are. I’m just painting what I see.

I put the lyrics into the form of mock liner notes for an album (complete with my theoretical band name). This is one of the things I really miss about digital music. Sometimes you’ll get a PDF with the album art and lyrics but it’s easy to forget about it when you do. It’s just not a format that lends itself especially well to display on a computer screen. But I went ahead and used it anyhow because I like it.

This post would be a million miles long if I put all the pictures and lyrics here. I’ve put them on their own page for simplicity’s sake. Click here to read “Set Adrift.” I hope you get something out of the experience. If it strikes a nerve, let me know.