Such is Life (An Email Reprint)

This email was written in January of 2012.

When I discuss literature in my classes, I try to suggest interpretations to the material that students might not have considered. I'll be hard pressed to ever tell a student that their perception of the material is wrong. Very few, if any, stories and essays are written for the exclusive purpose of being published in a high school textbook, so absolute answers to textbook questions don't exist. Nonsensical answers don't count, but every well thought out opinion is valid. 

With this in mind, here's "C'est La Mort" by The Civil Wars. I hadn't yet read the lyrics when I first played their CD in my car, and without a working knowledge of the French language, I didn't hear a song about a love that lasts beyond death. 

Instead, as I'm cruising around in a car littered with picture books, sippy cups, and teething rings, I heard a song about a parent making the impossible plea for their child to not grow up and grow away. 

Don't go 

Please don't go

Don't go without me

I actually had to wipe away a few tears. It's funny how parenting affects interpretation, but C'est la vie.

Link: "C'est La Mort" - The Civil Wars