MAY - "May"

Even though I’ve never harvested anything other than a few crummy tomatoes, I’ve lived every year of my life on an agrarian calendar. As a public school student, a college undergraduate, a graduate student, and a teacher, I’ve spent every summer of my life either at leisure, or working a part-time job. Thanks, historically-agricultural economy.

And while I love my job, I also love summer. I look forward to it. Thus, I’ve always spent the month of May in a state of suspended anticipation, looking forward to the bright, breezy freedom brought on by the arrival of June.

The first half of this song is about embracing that anticipation. And the second half is about fighting it. It seems a dangerous thing to be looking forward too much. There is much to be missed by keeping your eyes on the horizon and wishing away the present. That’s what I wanted to express in this song, hopefully without descending into platitudes.