We'll never speak of this horrible movie. |
I was downstairs and heard the song coming from upstairs when Shayera suddenly asked her mother "what does she mean she's the queen of nothing and the king of the world?" I rushed up, not because I didn't think my wife couldn't handle it, but because that's the type of thing I live for. And sure enough, halfway up, after going through some of it I heard my wife say "but let's ask Papi, and see what he thinks."
The song was "King of the World" by First Aid Kit. It's a song that I absolutely love, especially because of the lines near the end "I wasn't born for anything, I wasn't born to say anything, I'm just here now and soon I'll be gone." To me that pretty much sums up the whole song and my goal in life. To be able to really live in the moment is the struggle we all go through, no matter what you may or may not believe. So, although that wasn't the line Shayera was asking about, that she was asking about this song at all was an opportunity to engage in a real conversation with her about art, interpretation and life.
Sure enough, we both told her that what it meant to her was just as valid as what it meant to us. We talked about what it meant to be king of the world and queen of nothing. Not owning anything but being the king of your world in your moment and nobody could really take that from you. And I talked to her about how that's just what I thought the song meant, but it was possible that the singer meant something else. And that was fine. I even brought up Pearl Jam's "Alive" and how Eddie Vedder originally meant the song ironically, but after his fans took it triumphantly, the meaning changed for him. It's one of my favorite stories about song meanings and one I've mentioned before here.
Awesome.
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