Lean On Me

I often reach for music

Maybe it is the news or just another Wednesday grind, but today was one of those days where concern mixed with disquiet and thoughts took off that didn’t land neatly. 

As the afternoon wound down and the shadows outside my window began to stretch in the setting sun, a feeling came across me that I had a hard time placing. 

It wasn’t melancholy, though it was an awareness of sadness. Nor was it happiness, though it contained the contentment that can come from community. 

It was just a feeling of being human, with all the complexities that entails. 

I thought of people I know who are hurting and afraid, of a world struggling with injustice, pain, and uncertainty, and how life’s joys can be fleeting, making them all the more precious.

When words seem inadequate in moods like this, I often reach for music. And there was no question which song I sought out first — the late, great Bill Withers’ classic “Lean on Me.” 

From the sparse chords that open the song — so perfect, so iconic — my mind entered a different space. 

As I listened to the seamless mix of melody and lyrics, I felt more at peace, I realized I was probably not alone in feeling unsettled. So I am sharing it with you in case it can be of help. 

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow

So true. None of us can escape it. 

Lean on me
When you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on...

For it won’t be long
Till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on

All of us will need to lean on someone. And all of us can be the someone upon which others can lean. 

I have been writing a lot about politics recently. It is the season. But my hope for this newsletter was always to be much broader. On this day between Super Tuesday and the State of the Union, I tried to remember what all of this is ultimately about. 

Our political parties are not sports teams. The goal of governing is not to win for the sake of winning, to run up the score, or to gloat in the defeat of others. We are members of a society that should be focused on helping everyone.

We should provide the support upon which those in need can lean. 

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can’t carry

I’m right up the road
I’ll share your load
If you just call me

Here are two versions of the song that always move me. 

Thank you.