You gotta swim

I like the song "Swim" so much that sometimes I come to my blog just to listen to it. It is at the top of my playlist to the right if you want to hear it. Andrew McMahon, the singer and song-writer for Jack's Mannequin wrote the album The Glass Passenger during and after his battle with Leukemia. It is full of deep emotion. I read that he said he wrote this album to get someone through a bad day. Some of his songs are not my thing, but I love Swim and a few others. I just love what the iTunes review says about Swim: "Swim may be the album's spiritual center, an expression of dogged resolve in the face of dark forces." You can view a video of the trailer for Dear Jack, the documentary of the diagnosis and battle with Leukemia here.

You gotta swim

Swim for your life
Swim for the music that saves you
When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim
And swim when it hurts
The whole world is watching
You haven't come this far
To fall off the Earth

The currents will pull you
Away from your love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave
Begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets
They fired at me from a gun
Cracking the armour, yeah

I swim for brighter days
Despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in
I swim

You gotta swim
Through nights that won't end
Swim for your family, your lovers
Your sisters and brothers and friends

Yeah you gotta swim
For wars without cause
Swim for these lost politicians
Who don't see their greed is a flaw

The currents will pull us
Away from our love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave
Begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets
They fired at me from a gun
Cracking the armour, yeah

I swim for brighter days
Despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in
I'm not giving in
I swim

You gotta swim
Swim in the dark
There's no shame in driftin'
Feel the tide shifting
And wait for the spark

Yeah you gotta swim
Don't let yourself sink
Just find the horizon
I promise you it's not as far as you think

The currents will drag us away from our love
Just keep your head above

Just keep your head above
Swim

Just keep your head above
Swim

Just keep your head above
Swim

When asked in an interview what he has learned from his experience with Leukemia, he replies: "If I could say anything, if I've learned anything from it - you never know what's coming for you. I don't say that to instill any sort of paranoia, but the point being, you don't know that you might not wake up tomorrow, and it's you or your friend, or some other possible road block that you might not know happen. You try and make sure day to day that you're living, not so that you are prepared for something like that, but you're living in a way that would make you okay with it. That could mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. For me, it's as simple as trying to live a life as a kind person, and doing things that I'm proud of, and looking after the people that I love in my life, and being as connected to the things and people that hold you in and are special to me." - Love that.