The Southern Cross

This song by Crosby, Stills and Nash has been haunting me lately. The lyrics really capture my increasing wanderlust, my need to get the hell out of dodge. My disconnect and lack of belonging to the country of my birth has been getting more and more obvious over the years, certainly one aspect of my interest in joining the Peace Corps. This song has a sort of troubled, unfulfilled drifter quality to the "persona" of the songwriter that speaks to something in my soul. Read, and enjoy (and if you can, get a copy of the song and listen to it).

Got out of town on a boat going to southern islands,
Sailing a reach before a following sea.
She was making for the trades on the outside,
And the downhill run to Pape`ete

Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas.
We got eighty feet of waterline, nicely making way.
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you,
But on the midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away.

Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me; larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world, lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will.

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,
You understand now why you came this way.
'Cause the truth you might be running from is so small,
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of the coming day.

So I'm sailing for tomorrow; my dreams are a-dying.
And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain.
I have my ship, and all her flags are a-flying.
She is all that I have left, and music is her name.

Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me; larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world, lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will.
And you know it will.

So we cheated and we lied and we tested,
And we never failed to fail. It was the easiest thing to do.
You will survive being bested.
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
In the Southern Cross.