This morning as I took CG to school a local radio station was involved in a Battle of the DJs of sorts. Two morning personalities had been tasked with making the perfect breakup mixtape. The requirement was that it be an “it’s over – I don’t want you to come near me ever again” tape, not a sappy, “I miss you and am sad it’s over” tape.
Now, I am no stranger to the mixtape. I used to make them a LOT (so did Denis – in fact, he’d send me tapes all the time while we were long-distance dating). The four years leading up to even MEETING Denis online were some of the busiest dating years ever (especially considering the fact I really didn’t start dating until my sophomore year in college), so I was making a lot of breakup mixtapes at that time.
One song that made it onto EVERY SINGLE BREAKUP TAPE I ever made, is a great song by Innocence Mission. I love Innocence Mission – I think they are a very talented and sorely underappreciated band. To my knowledge they’ve never had a top 40 hit (although they did chart one song on the Modern Rock charts a long time ago), but that hasn’t stopped me from owning several of their CDs. My favorite CD of theirs is an old from the late 1980s, called “Innocence Mission.” I love every single song on that CD, and the song entitled “You Chase The Light” is hands-down my favorite. And it’s that song that made it onto every single breakup mixtape I ever made. Here are the lyrics:
You Chase The Light by Innocence Mission
you get out of my head now, honey
you get out of my head
you and your colors
you and your painting
I can forget you
probablyyou stay out of my way now, honey
you just stay out of my way
this is my grace coast
this is my homeland
you’re always coming and goingbut I always come back
I am drawn to this place
as I’m drawn to you
as I’m drawn to you
as I’m drawn to light
a moth to the light
to the lightlet’s talk about your freedom
talk about my lack of it
let’s talk about my feelings
talk about your lack of them
you preach such beauty
you miss the pointyou go down with your friends every day
you go down to the sea
light on the water
for the light on the water
I work the whole day
you chase the lightlook out there!
can’t you see what I see?go paint the ladies on the beach
they mean nothing to me
they are part of the scenery
I don’t know why you go this way
with crinolines and parasols
to shade their beautiful faces
from the sunlight that you love so well
I love you more, I love you more
isn’t that funny?
no, I don’t think that’s funny
I think it’s funny…so, you get out of my head now, won’t you?
just stay out of my head
move down the coastline
move to a new town
and don’t say you love me
what does that mean?
I don’t want to keep you bottled in my glass
you are a free moth
go chase the light
Man that’s a great song, isn’t it? Just a fabulously beautiful song.
Did you ever make breakup mixtapes? Was there a song that pretty much made it on every tape you made?