The Truth Will Always Be
Song and poem by Pat Metheny, a comforting message in turbulent times
Every day I spend listening to music, sometimes stretches as long as five or more hours at a time, while I’m deep into my writing. Often I’m playing a list of my “likes” which includes a lot of music by Pat Metheny, who is considered one of the greatest contemporary jazz composers and innovators of our age.
Recently his “The Truth Will Always Be” came up, with its slow, melancholic build-up to a transcendent and ecstatic crescendo. One of my favorites. Its title speaks volumes and is a comforting reminder in these turbulent times.
No matter how many lies, big and little, are out there circling the globe, stirring up whirlwinds of trouble, trying to distort, obscure and obfuscate, they can do nothing to obliterate the truth, and the reality of all that is good and worthwhile in this world. The truth will always outlast and outshine the lies and campaigns of disinformation, hate, distrust, and fear. They will tarnish in time, grow stale, irrelevant, and crumble away, or wither from within.
But the truth will carry on and carry the day, moment by moment, in the tangible ways it has of expressing its reality to each of us.
Below are the lyrics to Metheny’s song, which expresses this truth. Read it while listening to his music.
And, in the meantime, may the truth be with be with you, my friends, on this lovely Monday morning here on the Central Coast of California.
And may the “truth that will always be” comfort those in places of the world not so lovely this morning.
The Truth Will Always Be
And every morning before I’m awake
I walk around the world to make sure she’s alright
And every evening ‘fore I bolt the door
I give the stars a stir to make sure they will spin all night
For I see people who will scratch
And spit and kick and fight
And I see nations war about whether
Right is left and whether wrong is right
And I know storms inside your head
Can amplify the plight
But no matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful
No matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful
And every Troy with wooden horse
I take to peaceful waters but can’t make him drown
And every Bastille that gets storm troopered
Hail to the chief comes raining, rainin’, rainin’, rainin’ down
And I’ve seen people conduct lightning
Down to a summer’s day
And I see nations playfully hurl
Snowballs packed with stones and clay
And I know rain inside your head
Can seriously put a stop to play
But no matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful
No matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful, so let it rain
And we see flying saucers, flying cups
And flying plates and as we trip down lovers lane
We sometimes bump into the gate and I know
Thunder in your head can still reverberate
But no matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful
No matter what the weather
You and the clouds will still be beautiful
No matter what the weather
So let it rain, so let it rain, so let it rain
Just let it rain, so let it rain, so let it rain
So let it rain, just let it rain, so let it rain, so let it rain
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Patrick Metheny
The Truth Will Always Be lyrics © Pat Meth Music Corp
Well, I just love this, Deborah. Thanks for linking to it in your recent piece on Odilon Redon. It's very reassuring. I love the music and your beautiful poem.