Knowing Too Much

Back in 1990, when George Michael's 'Praying For Time' was released, I was completely unaware that the song even existed.  In fact, I was shopping for cassette singles at a music store, specifically a song by Maxi Priest, when I heard this song playing. 

George Michael’s most well known song is of course ‘Faith’ – which has made a recent reappearance on the new TV series, Eli Stone.  I personally haven't watched the show, but I know the song and the plot of the show.  The line, "You've gotta have faith." is an excellent match to the plot premise.  BUT, I would have preferred that the producers had taken a bolder step and used 'Praying For Time' instead…either as musical plot foreshadowing or for the opening credits. 

Why?

Mostly because this entire song, not just the chorus, would relate to the character’s previous behavior as a lawyer, his health situation, and also resonate more with the types of cases that he takes on and the world in general. 

But, let me shift back to the 1990 memory…

I had always been extremely sensitive to change as a child - change in the world, the environment, and myself.  Back in '90, I was only a Freshman in High School, but unlike most of my classmates, I was always described as possessing keen observation skills, an adult perspective on life that was at that time more often seen in 30 or 40 year-olds than in teenagers, and a more “world” perspective.  Of course, although teenagers today are still concerned about teenage things, we see more and more teenagers and even middle school children, through constant exposure to world events on the Internet and through other technologies; who seem to possess similar traits, act on more adult impulses, have more detail-oriented skill sets, and express more global perspectives and viewpoints.  It is ironic of course that I am now writing this as a thirty-one year old having, it would appear, finally caught up with myself and the world.

When I heard this song for the first time it spoke to me of subjects I was very much concerned about, but had felt that no one my age or in my geographic area were placing enough focus on or could discuss with me:  the negativity in the world, peoples’ attitudes about wealth and poverty and taxation (a subject that often hit home as I did not come from a middle-class home and had to learn from an early age the value of thrift and saving), homelessness, the ever consuming role of television in our lives, the lack of charity and kindness…et cetera. I think I was also questioning my religious beliefs and their Christian foundation; especially the organized religion that they were built upon.

George Michael’s words:

 “So you scream from behind your door
Say what's mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I'll take my chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score

And you cling to the things they sold you
Didn’t you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can't come back
'Cause he has no children to come back for

It's hard to love there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time”

Spoke directly to my sense of “Knowing Too Much” and the helpless- and hopeless- ness I felt; the utter inability to express or find a way to act upon the feelings of desperation and loss that were consuming my waking hours. 

In 2008, the words still hold much of their old feeling, but with all of the rapid change in the world, with the ever increasing problems that are, as George Michael once was quoted, exacerbated by technology, I wonder if there are more children and even adults who might benefit from hearing lines like:

 “I guess somewhere along the way

He must have let us all out to play

Turned his back and all God’s children

Crept out the back door”

In 1990, his dreary words brought me relief - someone cared and was trying to get the world to wake up.  In 2008, a decade later, as I possibly still know too much and feel too greatly, those same words haunt me as I wonder once again with despair, can we ever learn?

*****

Postscript… 

Accordi ng to online sources, the episode titles for Eli Stone will relate to George Michael songs – either by title or by lyric.  I hope this is true as it would be very interesting to see what type of story they attach (there are so many possibilities) to this song and what sort of impact, if any, it has on the people who see it and hear the music.