Some People by The Fixx

It's another one of those mornings when I woke up with an obscure track working it's way out of the subconscious archives filed away in my audio experiences. When I was in college there were three bands form the new wave explosion on the radio I really connected with: U2, INXS, and The Fixx. I liked plenty of other tunes. The Who had Eminence Front out and Athena at the same time as U2's New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday. INXS was out with Don't Change and the Fixx had Red Skies and Stand Or Fall on the radio.

I can remember shooting pool in the basement of our rental in my college days. 1982-83 was my junior year in engineering school and these songs were part of my soundtrack. I can't say why I gravitated to the Fixx. I really like the singer's voice and the guitar work under the synthesizer driven tunes is interesting. I'm even less sure as to why Some People can into my conscious view this morning. It's not even a hit of theirs. I never bought the album. These were the poor college student days. I recorded a copy on cassette from my cousin's album. I could not find the album for MP3 download on the usual sites. Appearing as track number two on their debut album Shuttered Room (1982). The hits on the US version of the album were Red Skies and Stand or Fall.

Give it a listen.  http://youtu.be/2T15_ZVPdFs

Some People

Songwriters: Barrett, Charles H / Curnin, Cyril / Greenall, Peter / West-oram, James / Woods, Adam Terence.

Some people make it
Some people try
Some people break it
Some people cry
Some people lose it
Some people find
Some people lead us
And some are behind

It's a slow slow break up
That's what we find
It's a so so make up
Make up your mind

It's a slow slow break up
That's what we find
It's a so so make up
Make up your mind

What is the point of being amused
I see the people standing abused
They keep their faces buried in hands
They keep their plates clean
But underneath...

Some people drink gin
Some people dry
Some people drive cars
And some people fly
Some people take trains
Some people walk
Some people hold it
And some people talk

It's a slow slow break up
That's what we find
It's a so so make up
Make up your mind

What is the point of being amused
I see the people standing abused
They keep their faces buried in hands
They keep their plates clean
But underneath...

They like to fly with the jetsetters
They want to be with the go-getters
And then the moment comes around
Once again we'll find
He's taking pills and drink just
To find his peace of mind

Some people do it
Some people won't
Some people do da
Some people don't
Some people Liepzig
Some people Prague
Some people lucid
And some people vague

It's a no go faker
That's what we find
It's a no no taker
What's on your mind

It's a no go faker
That's what we find
It's a no no taker
What's on your mind

What is the point of being amused
I see the people standing abused
They keep their faces buried in hands
They keep their plates clean
But underneath...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The overall message I get from this song is the ferment of social revolution bubbling underneath polite society. To draw upon the the often quoted Henry David Thoreau, the song is pointing to the human condition. According to Walden.org this following popular quote is a misquotation of Thoreau

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

The first half of this quotation is a misquotation from Thoreau's Walden:

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.”

The second half of this quotation is misattributed to Thoreau and may be a misquotation or misremembering of Oliver Wendell Holmes' (1809-1894) "The Voiceless":

Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them.

The feeling I get as I look at the lyrics is that people have all kinds of way of coping with life. People have a variety of ways to busy themselves as they avoid the deep nag of wanting more. We want more meaning, more stuff, more happiness, more security, more freedom, more fun, more excitement, more, more, more.

Since most of us either do not know how to get more, or don't believe we can get more. we settle for less and live lives of quiet desperation. We live with the tension of wanting to be more, knowing there is a great potential in us. The recent film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, features a character who spends most of his time fantasizing about life, instead of actually living it. Cloistered by his own insecurities he watches from the wings as others perform under the spotlights. His heart longs to be one of the heroes, but he's too afraid.  Or is he? There is that moment when we cast fear aside and take the plunge. Sometimes our worst fears are realized and we fail miserably. Sometimes we have the time of our lives. Sometimes we actually make a difference.

Today, I mourn the sad death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Here was a great talent who created memorable characters on the big screen and on the stage. But, like so many artists, he had an addiction. He died with a needle in his arm at only 47 years old. So very sad.

Hoffman's death should be a warning to all of us. Numbing the pain of our inner condition is not the answer. That desire in us to be more or to have more is what makes us human. We are created in God's image. The first three chapters of Genesis explain why we are the way we are.

So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27)

There's something divine, that is higher, in us. The reason we want more, need more and reach for more is because we were made for more. We were made to reach higher, all the way to heaven to be with like our maker.

The garden story illustrates this point. Adam, the man made from dust, was formed by God's hands. He was animated by God breathing into him the breath of life. (Gen 2:7) God's own Spirit resides in the human being. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to keep it and work it. (Gen 2:15) He took a rib from Adam's side and gave him Eve, the woman, as a companion. (Gen 2:21-22)Adam was told he could eat of any fruit of the trees in the garden, save one. He was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:16-17)

The second chapter of Genesis describes the relationship humanity was intended to have with God. We were to enjoy a paradise-like relationship in which we walked unashamed before our creator and one another. (Gen 2:25)

But we lost this paradise. We lost it because the very quality that causes us to reach higher causes us to reach in the wrong direction. The serpent seduced the woman to eat the forbidden fruit. He made it look like an answer to our inner desire to be more or have more.

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5)

Eve and Adam were convinced to do what they were told was not the thing to do. The took the forbidden fruit and ate it, thinking they would become like God. Their eyes were opened and they knew good and evil. The experienced the taste of evil by heeding the voice of the serpent and experiencing for themselves that which is forbidden. And they were ashamed.

God cast them from His presence in paradise. They left the protected and plentiful garden to work the accursed ground of a fallen and corrupted world. We are separated from God because of sin. And we lead lives of quiet desperation because we have not found the way back into that relationship for which we were made.

We keep our faces buried in our hands. We keep our plates clean, meaning we behave according to the laws of society, for the most part. But underneath we know there has to be something more. Underneath there is that tension, that fermenting urge to be more and to have more. We want to be with the jetsetters and go-getters, because we think that is the answer. The Fixx acknowledges that the jetsetting, go-getting life is not the ultimate answer.

And then the moment comes around
Once again we'll find
He's taking pills and drink just
To find his peace of mind

Phillip Seymour Hoffman died of an overdoes of heroin trying to find an escape, trying to find peace in an opiate infused release from the pain of mortality. But he is just one tragic example of what most of us are doing. We are all reaching for highs in the wrong direction.

Reach for God knowing that He has reopened the way to paradise. Our sin separates us from God, but God has acted in Jesus Christ to eliminate our sin and give us entry into life with Him, which is what the garden represents. God loves you and sent His Son to rescue you from death. Listen to the invitation to trust in the gospel from Jesus' own words.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25-26)

This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” (Jn 6:40)

If you'd like not to end up like some people, busying themselves with all the wrong reaches, amusing themselves to death, I pray you will accept the call of God within you to trust in Christ Jesus for the saving of your lost and longing soul.

Merciful and Loving God, our souls will not rest until they learn to rest in Thee. Give us grace to hear You call and courage to come to Your embrace through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen