It was doneWhen the benediction had been sungFirelight gently woke us from our golden nightMy surpriseI can turn to see your open eyesAnd I know You are aliveI know that smileNothing moreIn the afterThere is waking from your sleepAnd your loverIs the only face you seeWe are afterEver afterThere is laughterAfterneathThe warNobody ever even asked what forUp aboveNothing matters but the ones you loveSo get out with meNow you’ve got enough with meJust the two of us you seeAnd nothing moreIn the afterThere is waking from your sleepAnd your loverIs the only face you seeWe are afterEver afterThere is laughter AfterneathOh, we afterEver afterThere is laughterAfterneathOhOhOhOhThank you.
Thank you very much.
Thanks. I love a depressing song …
you know? I’ve been writing them for 15 years now, and to be honest, over that time, I’ve come to kind of believe that they’re not really depressing at all. In fact, I think they’re kind of the most important songs we have. Songs that sing of sorrow, of grief, of longing, of the darker side of love, the underside of being alive, these are the songs I just never tire of hearing and I never tire of writing, because they make me feel less alone. They speak to a very real part of being human that can often be hidden in fear and shame and pushed deep down where it lingers and rots. But I think in listening to these songs — really listening — can allow us to refeel these hard emotions, but in a cathartic and healing way. In a way that reminds us, as we listen, that we’re not alone in darkness. There’s a Japanese phrase known as “mono no aware,” which roughly translates as “the bittersweet poignancy of things,” or the pathos or “ahness” of things.
It’s a valuable awareness of impermanence, both a kind of gentle, transient sadness as things pass by in life, but also a deeper, softly lingering sadness about the impermanence of all reality.”Mono no aware” can be manifest in lots of life stories and moments and songs. One example in Japanese culture is the celebration of the cherry blossom. The cherry blossom in and of itself is no more impressive than that of an apple or orange tree, but what sets it apart is its brevity. Cherry blossoms fall within a single week — can be whisked away on the gentlest breeze — and it’s this that makes it more beautiful. It’s utterly fragile, and fragility gives life its poignancy. Now, being a cheery chap, nothing speaks to me more than this, and —
you know, I think it’s been the essence of my songwriting for years, of what moves me to write, what inspires me to sing. Because pain and grief and doubt, when it’s made manifest in music, in song — when it’s made beautiful in poetry and painting, it can build a community and a kinship in the knowledge that we are none of us alone in darkness. My next song is one that I call “Killing Me,” and as the name suggests, it’s not a dance floor favorite.
But it isn’t miserable. It’s full of love and hope. And I think it exemplifies everything I’ve been talking about. And it’s the first song I’ve written from the perspective of somebody else, specifically my grandmother, as she lives on without my late grandfather, as she experiences new things in her life — her grandchildren getting married, having their own children, speaking at TED — all the while she lives without, and all the while she misses her soul mate. Thank you.
Sweetheart would you wake up today? I promise you would recognize my faithI want to show you how I’ve grown in this placeIn this place I’m not aloneAnd I know I’ll be OKBut it’s always harder When the winter comes to stayAnd I can’t help remember all the words I never saidAnd it’s killing me That you’re not here with meI’m living happilyBut I’m feeling guiltyAnd you won’t believe The wonders I can seeThis world is changing meBut I will love you faithfully.
Oh, everything is taller these daysMaybe I feel smaller and time rushes awaySo much I could show youHow all the great-grandchildrenHave been laughing like we did when we were youngI’ve been laughing like we did when we were youngOh, it’s killing me that you’re not here with meI’m living happilyBut I’m feeling guiltyOh, you won’t believe The wonders I can seeThis world is changing meI will love you faithfullyOh OhOh OhOh, it’s killing meThat you’re not here with meI’m living happilyBut I’m feeling guiltyOh, you won’t believe The wonders I can seeThis world is changing meI will love you faithfullyOh, it’s killing meThat you’re not here with meI’m living happilyBut I’m feeling guiltyOh, you won’t believe The wonders I can seeThis world is changing meBut I will love you faithfullyThank you very much.(Applause and cheering)