Best Song Lyrics (Part XXII)

A few years ago, I saw the touring production of the Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.  Until then, I had no idea how many great songs Carole King had written for herself and for others.

I probably should have known better.  I was a pre-teen in the 1960s and 1970s, so it wasn't as if I cared that much about music during the peak Carole King years.  But I had older brothers and sisters who were listening to her music on the radio.  I just didn't make the connection back then.

Along with her writing partner and future spouse (and later ex-spouse), Gerry Goffin, King turned out several hits that others recorded, like Up On The Roof, The Loco-Motion, and Will You Love Me Tomorrow.  The list of songs credited to King the solo artist is equally impressive, including I Feel The Earth Move, and You've Got A Friend.  (The latter was recorded first by James Taylor, but yes, written by King.)

King's famous album Tapestry alone has several hits on it, but to illustrate her songwriting skills I'll single out her pre-1980s technology break-up song So Far Away:

So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know that you're just time away

Long ago, I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
Oh, how I wish I could
But you're so far away, yeah

One more song about movin' along the highway
I can't say much of anything that's new
But if I could only work this life out my way
I'd rather spend it bein' close to you

But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know, you're so far away

In Defense Of Mechanisms

 A few months ago I made a blog entry about an Intro to Psychology class I took as a freshman in college, and how much of it I still remembered.  A good deal of what was taught in that class came from the research and writings of the most well-known psychological thinker of all-time, Sigmund Freud.

One of those Freudian items was his seven psychological defense mechanisms.  These are essentially ways the mind copes with itself, none of which are particularly appealing:

• Denial: Refusing to accept that something exists or happened, or perhaps simply altering the meaningfulness of an outcome to convince oneself it wasn't important.

• Intellectualization: Thinking about something logically or coldly and without emotion.  

• Projection: Attributing a threatening aspect of oneself to someone else, like accusing another of being angry with you when you in fact are angry with them.

• Rationalization: Creating an acceptable but incorrect explanation of a situation.

• Reaction formation: Doing the opposite of what you would really like to do, such as going out of the way to be nice to someone you really disliked.

• Regression: Returning to an earlier or more childlike form of behavior.

• Repression: Keeping a thought, feeling, or memory of an experience out of consciousness, often with an emotionally difficult situation.

(It's noteworthy that Denial also happens to be the first stage of grief, as I mentioned in that prior post.  It's the quickest and easiest defense mechanism to use, and also the worst one for our society.)  

I've been thinking about these defense mechanisms a lot lately, probably because their usage is way up.  Some of them have come to mind when observing the way people are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Others have been particularly applicable to politicians and political parties in this election year.  I'm not kidding when I say the current president will occasionally use all of these defense mechanisms in a single reply to a basic question.  (The possible exception is Intellectualization, because that implies logic is involved.)

The point of this all is, 1) I remember obscure things from this college class, and 2) recognizing these defense mechanisms -- not just unknowingly using them -- would enhance everyone's ability to cope with life.