Songs of snow and lace….

Have you noticed that many songwriters sing about weddings? Today as I watched the swirling snow I was reminded of the song Hejira by Joni Mitchell. I think we can all relate to these pensive lyrics. We have our desires and our fears, our dreams and our longings. Marriage is universal, and, in the West, the image of white lace reflects memories of the past, or wishes for the present and future.

I see something of myself in everyone

just at this moment of the world

As snow gathers like bolts of lace

Waltzing on a bridal girl

 

Joni Mitchell wrote one of my favourite songs, Song for Sharon, in the ‘70s. There was wistfulness in her words. She was young and traveling alone, but it seems her yearning for marriage was her roadside companion.

I went to Staten Island, Sharon

To buy myself a mandolin

And I saw the long white dress of love

On a storefront mannequin

Big boat chuggin’ back with a belly full of cars

All for something lacy

Some girl’s gonna see that dress

And crave that day like crazy

 

Then, as she reminisces, she says,

When we were kids in Maidstone, Sharon

I went to every wedding in that little town

To see the tears and the kisses

And the pretty lady in the white lace wedding gown

We all long for our perfect mate. We all anticipate the romance and the joy of not only finding our beloved, but of saying I do on that day of our dreams. Artists like the incomparable Joni Mitchell have a way of expressing our deepest yearnings.

Let’s all enjoy the anticipation as well as the fruition of our dreams. It is love that makes the ride so enchanting.