Crying (A Loose End)

Today’s post is about tying up a loose end.

*

I’m accumulating quite a few loose ends on the blog. I even have categories for them. Some loose ends I specifically plan on never tying up. Some have a priority and every day I try to think of ways to get them posted. Other loose ends just kind of percolate until I’ve got some time on my hands or think of something unexpected.

Incidentally, the last time I tried to tie up a loose end I ended up taking down the post. I’ll tell that story another day. That loose end attempt has itself become yet another loose end.

Today’s loose end is of the third variety. So far as I know, this isn’t a trouble making loose end, it’s just something I have taken a long while to get around to.

*

Last year in “My Favorite Zombie Movie” I mentioned that the ending of “Return of the Living Dead #3” always makes me cry. I wasn’t just being melodramatic. The ending really does make me cry. Something about the combination of the zombie theme and the star-crossed lover theme gets to me.

But there are two things from pop culture that always make me cry.

Ever since the March before last I’ve been waiting to get an idea for how to bring up the second pop culture thing that always makes me cry.

Yesterday’s post about petting butterflies and my post from a couple of months ago about the season’s first Monarch got me thinking about how many butterfly references I’ve made in the blog. It’s entirely emergent—butterflies aren’t one of the themes/concepts/things I’ve mentally set aside to talk about or think about.

I believe the butterfly references have a strong subconscious component. Because for many, many years now the second pop culture thing that always makes me cry has been the Heart song, “Dog and Butterfly.”

Sometime in the future I’m going to come back and talk about butterflies at some length—the whole topic, now, has become a loose end!—but for today’s post I’m just going to put up the lyrics to “Dog and Butterfly:”

There I was with the old man
Stranded again so off I’d ran
A young world crashing around me
No possibility of getting what I need
He looked at me and smiled
Said, “No, no, no, no child—

See the dog and butterfly.
Up in the air she like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
Below he had to try.
He roll back down
To the warm soft ground
Laughing.
He don’t know why.
He don’t know why.
Dog and butterfly.”


Well, I stumbled upon your secret place
Safe in the trees you had tears on your face
Wrestling with your desires
Frozen strangers stealing your fires
The message hit my mind
Only words that I could find—

See the dog and butterfly
Up in the air she like to fly
Dog and butterfly
Below he had to try
He roll back down to the warm soft ground
Laughing
Up to the sky
Up to the sky
Dog and butterfly

We’re getting older
The world’s getting colder
For the life of me I don’t know the reason why
Maybe it’s living
Making us give in
Hearts rolling in
Taken back on the tide
We’re balanced together
Ocean upon the sky

Another night in this strange town
Moonlight holding me light as down
Voice of confusion inside of me
Begging to go back where I’m free
Feels like I’m through
But the old man’s words are true—

See the dog and butterfly
Up in the air she like to fly
Dog and butterfly
Below he had to try
He roll back down to the warm soft ground
A little tear in his eye
He had to try
He had to try

Dog and butterfly

Up in the air she like to fly
Dog and butterfly
Below he had to try
He roll back down to the warm soft ground
Laughing
He don’t know why
But he had to try
He had to try
Dog and butterfly