Alone | Consolations Music Series

This post begins a series where I will be associating songs with poems from two of David Whyte's books: Consolations and Consolations II. I don't yet own physical copies of these books, but I do have access to audio readings of the poems, voiced by Whyte himself. 

The subtitle of Consolations is "The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words" (oxford comma not in original, and hesitantly omitted here out of respect). As the title suggests, each poem offers a contemplative exploration of a particular word. Whyte is a master of framing and style. Like many songs, his poems have a way of disarming listeners and connecting them with a greater whole. These meditations on everyday words carry reverence for the profundity of the human condition, and often manage to shine through the interstices of my clouded mind. 

While I cannot reproduce the poems here, I will provide excerpts that especially connected with me. I do hope you will seek them out, gentle reader. 

Alone

"It is a word that can be felt at the same time as an invitation to depth and as an imminent threat." 

"To be alone is not necessarily to be absent from the company of others. The radical step is to let ourselves alone. To seize the berating voice that is constantly trying to interpret and force the story from too small and too complicated a perspective."

"Human beings have the ability to feel the rawest, most intimate forms of aloneness while living closely with others, or beset by the business of the world."

Selecting a song for "Alone" is difficult because it has to capture both the "invitation to depth" and the "imminent threat." For me, being alone can feel nourishing, rejuvenating, and reaffirming. At other times, being alone has meant that I was deprived of community and understanding. I think this track by Kris Tena captures the feeling well.