When do we know it’s the darkest hour?
Answer: See the title of this post.
If you can hang in there through the night, a new dawn is headed your way
We only know in retrospect. Let’s face it. The darkness can overwhelm us, and creep in slowly, to the point that we not only lose track of how dark it is, but that light — a new dawn — is possible at all. That’s when off on the distant horizon you catch a glimpse of a new ray of sun, or maybe a dull glow, ever so faint at first, but slowly starting to overtake the night sky. Or in other words, morning.
More about this song: I wrote it as an anthem to Candidate Burt Silver, almost on lark. Who is Burt Silver? He’s a politician in a book I co-wrote and a character I gave a second life (i.e. outside of the book) on the Campfire Park website. All politicians have mottos, and Burt Silver’s is this: “It’s a new dawn with Burt Silver … because he stayed up all night to see it.” That’s perhaps the most interesting — and paradoxical — aspect of this song. On the one hand, it is written as a personal triumph over darkness when it’s least expected. On the other hand, I wrote it on a humorous note to capture the essence of a fictitious politician who stays up all night. Or maybe the most incredible thing is that I wrote the song at all.
Moral of the story: Whenever and wherever inspiration strikes, go with it. In the end its the only thing that delivers us from the darkness closing in.
