Heading for the Light

I found a cassette of the Traveling Wilbury’s, and I’ve been playing it whenever I have to travel in an enclosed vehicle. All the songs are great, tho’ I’m a little sick of the Monkey Man, and they always get these really great groves going.

The lyrics always sound like they’re made up on the spot, but that’s not a bad thing. Dylan comes up with this:

“It was in Pittsburgh
Late one night.
I lost my hat,
got into a fight.
Rolled and tumbled
Til I saw the light.
Went to the big apple,
Took a bite.”

And Tom Petty has a great verse:

“Maybe somewhere down the road a ways
You’ll think of me, and wonder where I am these days.
Maybe somewhere down the road a ways
When somebody plays…
Purple Haze.”

But as I play it over and over I find I love the George Harrison songs best of all, like Heading for the Light:

Been close to the edge, hanging by my fingernails
I’ve rolled and I’ve tumbled through the roses and the thorns
And I couldn’t see the sign that warned me,
Heading for the light

I didn’t see that big black cloud hanging over me
And when the rain came down I was nearly drowned
I didn’t know the mess I was in.

My shoes are wearing out from walking down this same highway
I don’t see nothing new but I feel a lot of change
And I get the strangest feeling, that I’m
Heading for the light.

My hands were tied,
Jokers and fools on either side
But still I kept on till the worst had gone.
Now I see the hole I was in.

I see the sun ahead, I ain’t never looking back
All the dreams are coming true as I think of you.
Now there’s nothing in the way to stop me
Heading for the light.