I Ride For: Mary
I “met” Mary through The Road Rider web site. It think that is a first for me. A mutual acquaintance has followed my last year and mentioned Mary to me and me to Mary. And the rest has been a chain of long emails.
Mary has gone through some real physical crap in the last 2 years and with that comes the mental baggage drain as well. One of the things that has gotten her through 3 different kinds of cancer and all the treatment was heavy metal and thrash metal music. “Getting angry and mean saw me through radiation.”
So in another first for me, I created a play list for my ride today in honor of Mary. I don’t really have any heavy metal and a I do not really know what thrash metal is. Also, I do not do “mean and angry” very well as you can see from the picture. I do have songs that are emotional AND in some of my favorites, “cancer” can be substituted with something else. See what you think:
Hells Bells by AC/DC. Just about any AC/DC song could have fit in this play list. For this one, think of the singer being the actual cancer. “I’m rolling thunder, pouring rain. I’m coming on like a hurricane… You’re only young, but your gonna die.”
Up by Shania Twain. Not an angry song but, “It’s bout as bad as it could be. Seems everybody’s bugging me. Like nothing wants to go my way… Even my skin is acting weird. I wish that I could grow a beard. Then I could cover up the spots… can only go up from here.” Sounds like cancer to me. Ha!
Calmer of the Storm by Downhere. “When everything is wrong. The day has passed and nothing’s done. And the whole world seems against me. When I’m rolling in my bed, there’s a storm in my head…teach me Lord to have faith…” Sometimes faith is super strong and sometimes it is almost non-existent.
Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC. Again the narrator as cancer. “I’m gonna take you down…so don’t you fool around. I’m gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger.” And I have always liked and gone fast during the drum solo. Ha!
We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister. This one speaks for itself and an attitude every cancer warrior has to take at some point.
Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf. I have never met Mary, but I think this song was written for her.
Let’s Get Rocked by Def Leppard. I just like this song and especially the first verse about a normal kid who does not want do do what is Dad has in mind. We are NOT doing what cancer has in mind.
Just Stand Up by Artists Stand Up to Cancer. Not an angry song but an emotional one. “If the mind keeps thinking you’ve had enough. But the heart keeps telling you don’t give up. Who are you to be questioning, wondering what is what? Don’t give up! Through it all, just stand up!”
Over and Over by Madonna. “It’s not a game, it’s how you play. And if I fall, I get up now… over and over”. At some point every week I wonder if I will have the energy to do it all again. And I am not even close to going through what Mary and others are.
Time for me to Fly by REO. Instead of a lover, think of singing this to cancer. “Oh, I make you laugh and you make me cry. I believe it’s time for me to fly.”
Highway to Hell by AC/DC. In this song cancer is the narrator. “No stop signs, speed limit. Nobody’s gonna slow me down…”
You will Never Walk Alone by Point of Grace. I did not plan to end with this song. I have about 30 songs in the play list and this is just how they came out. I could not, however, have chosen a better song. “Along life’s road there will be sunshine and rain. Roses and thorns, laughter and pain. And across the miles you will face mountains so steep, deserts so long and valleys so deep… You will never walk alone!”
Mary, I bet you’re glad I only listed to this play list on the way home or it would be twice this long! Sorry that there was none of “your kind” of music in here. I did have Rock you like a Hurricane by the Scorpions but it never played. I did, however, ride emotionally through all these songs even if I was not “angry”.
SHINE!
The Road Rider