1000 Lovers

I’ve been listening almost incessantly to Lynn Miles’ song, “1000 Lovers.” The chorus goes like this:

A thousand lovers could put their arms around me,
A thousand wishes could fall like summer rain,
A thousand mothers could sing hush now don’t you cry,
There’s nothing in the world tonight that’s gonna take away my pain.

I don’t think this song is about lost love. A thousand lovers couldn’t help. This song isn’t about getting what you want. A thousand wishes could fall. Neither is this song about nurture and unconditional love. A thousand mothers could sing. No, none of these comforts are going to take away the pain. And so from where does that pain derive? What is this overwhelming pain that cannot be assuaged? Ah, these are the questions this song demands the asking.

But in fact, I don’t think it is important for me to have answers. I think it is enough now to know that there are pains from which there can be no relief. It is a comfort, finally, to know that it is not pathology from which I sometimes suffer but the inevitable experience of living in this world.