He Ain't Heavy

I never really gave this song much thought, but could remember the first few words and then hum along with the rest. It was first sung by Neil Diamond. That basically how I do all songs.  Being a young adult and seeing nothing but the hopes, love and life ahead, this song didn't mean much to me.

I know this song has been done in different ways, by different artists. The recording and video below means more to me, at this stage of my life.

The lyrics? Can you hear them?  Understand them?  Here they are:

The road is long/ with many a winding turn

That leads us to who knows where/who knows when.

But I’m strong/strong enough to carry him.

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.

So on we go/his welfare is of my concern.

No burden is he to bear/we’ll get there.

For I know/he would not encumber me.

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.

If I’m laden at all/I’m laden with sadness

That everyone’s heart/isn’t filled with gladness

Of love for one another.

It’s a long, long road/from which there is no return

While we’re on the way to there/why not share

And the load/doesn’t weigh me down at all.

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

He’s my brother…He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother...

What do you remember of the 70s or 80s, when this song was making the rounds? Did you know the lyrics then? Did this speak to you? 

Addendum:  This was a song for many when it was released in 1970. Vietnam took many of our local boys from small farming communities where I grew up. Some came back, some didn't. When I hear this, the senior HS  pictures come to mind of those boys, their names. My cousin Billy didn't return.

Repost from 2014

Intelligent Design

Source

It is obvious that 1970s "ranch" houses were designed by men.  In a rush to churn out neighborhoods like ours, blueprints were stamped and approved; wood framing, fiber board walls, wall-board, stucco, and roofs were thrown up, and painted. 

I know the houses were designed by men for two reasons: kitchen cabinets, and placement of the bathrooms.

See the corners? 

If pots or cook ware are placed in the bottom shelf of the cabinets, they will creep further and further back into dark cavernous corners from which nothing emerges.  

A female or child must take a flashlight and crawl in to retrieve the damn things. (My husband closed off those corners and who knows what lives back there right now.)   Also, placement of the appliances of the U-shaped kitchen makes working in the kitchen with two people difficult.

Up the stairs, to the left, and over the living room...

Bathrooms?  The main 1970s ranch-style house bathroom is off the hall and next to the living room, dead center of the house.  Anything that goes on in the bathroom is heard by the whole house—seriously.  Archie Bunker, re-enacted. Newer houses have these bathrooms next to the dining room and kitchen. Again, is that intelligent design?

No female architect would have allowed houses with these designs off the drawing table.  

For anyone whose house design resembles the above, no offense is intended.  Our house is in serious need of re-modeling, and has all the design flaws listed.

Infinite Jest

Times change, without a doubt.  As technology made photographs more accessible and cheap, every family documented big events.  Burgeoning photo albums showed the styles of the 1960s and the 1970s.  Silly hair styles and mini-skirts were part of the albums.

Movie cameras shrank from complicated monsters with four blinding headlights to hand-held quiet 8 mm cameras, capturing the silliness of my era. 

We were the hippy generation, the postwar baby boomers.  Long straight hair and ‘hot pants’ were the style; leisure suits were for dressing up.  We documented our life together with photo and film.

Because we were diligent in recording our history and obsessive about keeping those films, we have a new position in the minds of our grown children:

                           We are their source of INFINITE JEST.

At Christmas 2012, I arranged to transfer a big box of 8 mm film to DVD, with my narration and background music.  I don’t know what reaction I expected.  

What we did get were peals of laughter, OMG-dad-you-were-such-a-geek, and LOL-mom-you-were-so-hot.

Our grandchildren will have hours of diversion and entertainment with our visual legacy to our progeny.  

Hours and hours of infinite jest.