Behind the Song
Okay, I admit it: I really do have some old rusty pipes.
Every now and then, the water pours out yellowish-brown for a few seconds.
Gross. (It’s a little embarassing.)
But I realized one day: this ugly-lookin’ water is a good metaphor for ugly-lookin’ feelings.
Picture it: there you are, just going about your day, when some situation or word triggers a memory or feeling — and bam! — you are four-years old again.
Shaking with rage. Or burning with shame. Twitching with fear.
It’s natural to want to look away from that feeling, pretend it’s not there.
But in my experience, the feeling doesn’t go away. It sticks around, and is joined by dread and a great deal of struggle.
What I’ve learned from Acceptance & Committment Therapy is: if you look at the feeling long enough, it starts to fade. (Eventually.)
The water clears.
Lyrics
I got a pair of old steel pipes running under my floor They've been there since the house was built for forty years or more Some days when I turn the faucet on and the water tumbles down a bit of those pipes trickle in a cloudy, rusty brown Watch the water run, watch the water run, watch the water run, the water run I never know the hour when the water'll get that taste maybe when I brush my teeth maybe when I wash my face When it comes, I try to avoid it I look the other way but I can't hide the water's stain when company comes to stay Watch the water run, watch the water run, watch the water run, the water run I know I should just replace those pipes but I don't have the tools or the time Or the dough to pay a pro So I guess I'll have to live with the grime The water clouded up the other day and I let it go I was fed up with pretending I was curious to watch the flow And as I watched, the color darkened darker than I'd ever seen but a handful of seconds later the water ran clean Watch the water run, watch the water run, watch the water run, the water run
ScottStoriesandSongs 