the passenger seat

Disclaimer: This blog is going to be a bit different to my other blogs. For the first time, there will be no pictures. This will be more of a thought-based blog. As I’m beginning to write this, I’m not really sure what direction this will take, so please bear with me as I go off on many tangents.

Anyway, I was listening to a bit of Death Cab For Cutie today (as I very often do), and I heard the song “Steadier Footing”, off The Photo Album, my favourite song off one of my favourite albums by the band. I don’t know why (maybe it’s because of how late it is), but along with all the talk recently about our futures- uni, careers, life in general- it got me thinking about what life will be like after we leave high school; and what will happen to the friendships we have formed these past five and a bit years. I’ve listened to this song before and had the same thoughts, but this time I’m blogging about it, which is really the whole reason I made this blog in the first place- to put down any thoughts or findings I have during the day. Here are the lyrics for “Steadier Footing”:

it’s gotten late and now i want to be alone
all of our friends were here, they all have gone home
and here i sit on the front porch
watching the drunks stumble forth into the night
you gave me a heart attack, i did not see you there
i thought you had disappeared so early away from here
and this is the chance i never got to make a move
but we just talk about the people we’ve met in the last five years
and will we remember them in ten more?
i let you bum a smoke, you quit this winter past
i’ve tried twice before, but like this, it just will not last 

It’s a short song by Ben Gibbard; only 1:47 long, but it’s a very succint way of saying what he wants to say. I can just imagine a situation just like this at the end of this year, where we would be having some sort of party or get-together (schoolies?) at the end of our high school life. Then, one by one, people would leave, and that might be the last time we see some of the people we’ve been to school with for six years. Scary thought, isn’t it? For some, you may be in the situation described by Ben Gibbard; “and this is the chance i never got to make a move”. Maybe this move might be with someone of the opposite sex, or it may even be with someone else who you’ve always wanted to be friends with or wanted to know better, but have never gotten the chance to talk to them properly. Regret is not a nice feeling.

but we just talk about the people in the last five years
and will we remember them in ten more? 

This is the phrase that really strikes me in this song; it just so perfectly sums up the way I feel about all of my friends and the people I’ve met here at Ruse. As corny as it may sound and as unbelievable as it may be, you all mean a lot to me. I feel as though our grade has grown really tight over the years; we all say “hi!” to each other in hallways or if we see each other elsewhere, sometimes even if we don’t know the other person that well. I think this is really a testament to the environment of our school and to the people in our grade. I don’t think I could find another school that would harbour the same kind of friendliness that is so abundant here, and for that I am very grateful to belong here. Luckily for us, however, all of us will be going to university next year; most of us to the same few, and therefore we won’t really lose very many friendships at all, at least for the next five or so years. But the song says “will we remember them in ten more?” I really hope so. In ten years, some of us may already have a stable job (maybe not you doctors), and (maybe I’m stretching it here) maybe even a family. To me, the perfect life would be if I could still meet up with all my friends from Ruse and have parties or whatever on weekends. That would be awesome. I think it’s really sad when people lose long-term friends, and six years definitely counts as long-term.

it just will not last

Will it, though? I don’t know. I really hope Ben Gibbard is wrong in that part of the song.

Anyway, more about the song. I find that it’s really appropriate that it’s the first song of an album called The Photo Album. The album title suggests memories, sentimentality, family, friends, while the song talks about the end of something- whether it’s high school or university or whatever, with a photo album the only thing left to remember people by. For us, this would be our yearbook or the year 12 contact book, but I really hope that this won’t be the only way we remember each other.

Instead of looking to the past so much, I think I should think about the future. Where would I want to be in ten years’ time? I would be twenty seven then. I think I would like to be in a decent job that will support me, but with room to move up. Hopefully it’s a job that will challenge me as well as allow me to use some creativity, as in design or media. Family? I’d probably hope to be at least thinking of starting one by then. I don’t know; it’s hard to say.

But I digress. The whole point of this extremely sentimental and corny blog was to just pour out some of the thoughts I’ve had about the past and the future. The title of the song, “Steadier Footing”, kind of reflects the way in which we are grounded by our friends while in school. When we move into university and out into the big world, we might lose this as we move on to bigger and better things; but that’s a good thing. Friends are still important, though- especially the ones you’ve known for years.