Song of the Week - If You Break Down - Jan 8, 2007

[Patti]

If You Break Down
from the album Ellis Paul Essentials

If there comes a day
where you wish the clocks
could roll backwards
in the cover of night
you're begging the stars to stay
asking satellites
to stop and help you remember
how to picture the world
before everything had changed

If you break down
I'm at your shoulder
Take me at my word
You can break down
I will tell you over and over
A reliable sound is coming around
If you break down
A reliable sound,
I'm coming round
If you break down

If fear comes without invitation
and lays its head
in the green within your eyes
if it's paralyzing
I will wake you
We will walk a thousand paces
walk away, walk away
till you are walking on your own




Okay lets start the New Year SOTW...with a short sweet song that sends a strong statement. The song was written for Ellis's wife,(girlfriend at the time) who was going to be having back surgery. Surgery always sounds scary to me, and back surgery sounds even more so. In the song he says that fear can be paralyzing but of course when you know why he wrote the song, it literally could be the surgery that is paralyzing. I'm not sure if a song alone would ease Sharon's fears but it certainly must have comforted her to know regardless of the outcome Ellis would always be there. Awww....what a guy. ..You know there are so many men in the world who feel the same and would do the same for their love...but there are only a few who can express it in such beautiful words and music. The version of this song on Essentials was different from the Speed of Trees. And while I like this version a lot I miss the violin (?) from the original that played at about 3 minutes into the song... Also this song played at the end of a TV show episode, Ed, which aired a few years ago. I never watched the show but I remember watching it to hear the song and it fit pretty good with the scene of the show. I'm pretty sure it was Kelly Ripa in the scene.

[Richard + Jela]

A song that has so much meaning, particularly when you know the background to its origin. For those of us who have people who we know will be there for us, come what may, it's a great comfort.

It strikes a chord particularly when today I read a newspaper report that 50,000 elderly people ate Christmas dinner alone this year. Who'll be there 'when they break down?'

Makes you count your blessings.

Jela

[paddyinthepub]

Patti...you are leading the SOTW discussion of an EP song that is and will always be near and dear to my heart. Thanks for kicking it off today.

This song is special to me, for so many reasons, and in so many ways. When my father was found to have a terminal illness, and not given much time, we brought him into our home. We were lucky to have him in our lives for so many good and healthy years. It's hard to watch someone once so healthy and vital and full of life slowly slip away. Especially Dad.

If You Break Down

He had, after a lifetime of being there for so many people, especially his family, broken down. He was always there for us. He was the reliable sound coming around. It was our duty bound honor to return the favor.

It was a struggle to accept the reality of the situation. That nothing could be done to save him. Try as I might...he was not going to survive this.

I happen to have Ellis Paul music on one day while all this was happening. It just hit home that day, this song, these lyrics.


If there comes a day
where you wish the clocks
could roll backwards
in the cover of night
you're begging the stars to stay
asking satellites
to stop and help you remember
how to picture the world
before everything had changed

These words spoke to our current life situation. The tears flowed freely. If only we could somehow Turn Back Time. Oh, to be able to do that.

Of course, eventually, there came acceptance. It was tough to hear Ellis strumming our fate here:

If you break down
I'm at your shoulder
Take me at my word
You can break down
I will tell you over and over
A reliable sound is coming around
If you break down
A reliable sound,
I'm coming round
If you break down

A side note on leaving this world --- fast or slow--- I often wonder, if given the choice, which would it be. There is something to be said for both. For the life of me, I don't know which way I'd choose. I suppose from my vantage point, I felt blessed that he went slow. Time enough to show how much he meant to us and how much we loved him. That was important.

But what was it like for him, I'd often wonder. The knowing. The day to day knowing, that it was all coming to an end. They said 4 - 6 months. It was mid November when the doctor spoke those words. He took it in stride. We left for home with a new found appreciation for time. He had done the math and did his ususal best to shine a positive light on things.

Four months from the middle of November is the middle of March. Always the Irishman, he'd set his sites on St. Paddy's Day. He almost made it too.

If fear comes without invitation
and lays its head
in the green within your eyes
if it's paralyzing
I will wake you
We will walk a thousand paces
walk away, walk away
till you are walking on your own

[JennyLevE]

Personally, I know that I keep finding myself drawn to this song when all I feel like doing is falling on my bed and crying. I find that there is something comforting about the song. I think that it makes me remember that I am lucky enough to have people in my life that care about my greatly, my friends and family. It reminds me that they will always be there to help me, no matter the issue.

I remember that when I was a little kid (my guess is that I still am a kid to most of you, but I am old enough to talk about when I was younger) I used to listen to a Josh White Jr. tape over and over and over again. We (my brother, my sister and I) listened to that tape so much that we wore the tape out.

Anyway, there was a song about needing to “eat an elephant one bite at a time.” It was a song about dealing with challenges and difficult situations. It said that you need to take everything one step at a time, and get through it by breaking it into smaller, more manageable, pieces. It is easy to become overwhelmed, but then nothing gets done. When you worry about needing to eat the entire elephant at once, you lose sight of the fact that you have to eat it one bite at a time.

I think that this song has become my more mature version of the “elephant song,” as I used to so fondly call it. I think that in many ways this song helps me get through though situations. I find that I gravitate towards this song when I feel overwhelmed.

I’m not sure if anything I have just said is intelligible to anyone else, but I hope that someone can find a kernel of truth or a token amount of wisdom in the mess of words I have just submitted to the internet.

“Take me at my word” -- Ellis Paul, If You Break Down

Thanks!
--Jen

[paddyinthepub]

Jen......well said...love the Josh White one bite at a time philosophy from his/your elephant song of your youth. How we could all use a song like that to help us remember to slow down and tackle the big stuff a little at a time. I haven't heard Josh's song....totally get the meaning and I'm glad you took the time to share that n your post. BIG LESSON there for sure.

For some reason, when we first heard If You Break Down, I was convinced that this was a song from Ellis' guitar to Ellis, silly as that sounds.

"I'm at your shoulder"

"A reliable sound is coming around"

If memory serves..this song came out post 9-11. When I heard it the first dozen times....I was convinced Ellis had written this song as a way to cope with the tragedy that was 9-11. It was Ellis' guitar convincing him that despite all this change...all this fear......I'm here, at your shoulder, to help you cope...to help you get through some of this.

If there comes a day
where you wish the clocks
could roll backwards
in the cover of night
you're begging the stars to stay
asking satellites
to stop and help you remember
how to picture the world
before everything had changed

To me there are a handful of artists with a signature sound. You can just tell who the artist is in the first few notes of the song. James Taylor is one. Ellis Paul is another. It's always been a reliable sound, coming around. If any one thing could ease Ellis' mind, why not his guitar.

What I'm enjoying most..is the difference....between how I once processed the meaning of Ellis' songs...vs. what i'm learning about Ellis' life around the time he penned a particular song.

When JennyLevE said: If You Break Down is a replacement song for Josh White's Elephant Song..for her... I realised something.....The word HELP jumped to the front of my mind. As in the old Beatles classic HELP. I sang the words in my mind and realised......that there is a link here...for me.

Ellis Paul's song If You Break Down might just be a relacement song for the Beatles' song HELP.

In case the words escape you......HELP! ~ The Beatles ~ lyrics to follow:

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.



See what I mean???

[Patti]

Paddy, Jenny..you post such interesting thoughts... I picked this song because I like it so much, and the message it sends. I thought it would be easy to talk about, but then I found it very hard to discuss deeply because it so personal. It is hard for me to interpert anything different when you know exactly what it is being talked about. That is not to say I don't enjoy as much or get out of it what I want....