The Layers/Take A Walk
Poem to song comparison
Poem: text
Stanley Kunitz
I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
“Live in the layers,
not on the litter.”
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.
Poem: main idea
Why I chose this poem
Song: lyrics
Passion Pit
All these kinds of places
Make it seem like it's been ages
Tomorrow some new building will scrape the sky
I love this country dearly
I can feel the ladder clearly
But I never thought I'd be alone to try
Once I was outside Penn station
Selling red and white carnations
We were still alone,
My wife and I
Before we marry, save my money
Brought my dear wife over
Now I want to bring my family state side
But off the boat they stayed awhile
Then scattered across the coast
Once a year I'll see them for a week or so at most
I took a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk, (oh-ah-ohhhh)
I take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk (oh-ah-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Practice isn't perfect
But the market cuts the loss
I remind myself that times could be much worse
My wife won't ask me questions
There's not so much to ask
And she'll never flaunt around an empty purse
Once my mother-in-law came
Just to stay a couple nights
Then decided she would stay the rest of her life
I watch my little children, play some board game in the kitchen
And I sit and pray they never feel my strife.
But then my partner called to say the pension funds were gone
He made some bad investments, now the accounts are overdrawn
I took a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk, (oh-ah-ohhhh)
I take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk (oh-ah-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Honey it's your son I think I borrowed just too much
We had taxes, we had bills, we had a lifestyle of fun
And tonight I swear I'll come home and we'll make love like we're young
Then tomorrow you'll cook dinner for the neighbours and their kids
We can rip apart those socialists and all their damn taxes
But see I am no criminal
I'm down on both bad knees
I'm just too much a coward to admit when I'm in need
I took a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk, (oh-ah-ohhhh)
I take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk (oh-ah-oh-oh-oh-oh)
I take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk, (oh-ah-ohhhh)
I take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk (oh-ah-oh-oh-oh-oh)
The connection
The painting (original poem)
A painting of perfection
Accidents come soon
Not worth time at an auction
The artist slips to the floor
And the painting belongs to the sidewalk
The artist can take no more
Ah he hit his pride block
Nothing but perfection
Should be ever close to accepted
As he heads for the door
He is an artist no more
A lady on a walk
The weather for a perfect day
Finds the abandoned painting
Ownerless and stray
A fine painting she thought
And she took it away
Signed her name on the bottom
Then took to the auction
The painting was fantastic in the eyes of the buyer
The imperfection left an impression that couldn't be higher
The buyer took the painting because it was worth something to him
While the artist sits in a room, full of discontent