Don't let the devil bury me alive.

There is this song. And I just love it. Like, I love it so much that I wanna sing it reeeeeally loud at the top of my lungs.  It's not because it has a catchy beat or catchy lyrics. It's because the lyrics ring so true.
This song is called "Song for the Suburbs" by Ben Rector (my fave). I've done that whole perfect house with a perfect job and a perfect life in a perfect subdivision with flower lined driveways and sprinklers keeping the yard perfect. (Now, don't get me wrong, I am a neat freak and I like for things to look nicely manicured, however, this is not what I am referring to.) And I just kind of want to punch all of that in the face.

It's exhausting to 'keep up with the Jones's'. Its physically and mentally exhausting to always try to have things perfect. I struggle with this every day... I am a perfectionist, so of course, I want things to be perfect. I want my house to be clean, my yard to look nice, etc etc. but wasting away my days and nights striving for that material perfection is just so exhausting.

There is a line in the song that says "If this dream is what you're after, then dreaming is where you'll stay." I think this very line is what made me love this song so very much. Because.... it's true.
I have always been a chaser. Chasing the next best thing. The nicer car. The bigger house. The better job. It's demoralizing. The truth is, once you get it... you just want more. And then once you get that... you just want even more.

No house, car, job or perfect appearance is ever going to truly bring you happiness. It will busy your mind and your spirit, keep you running for something you can never achieve and exhaust you in the process.

I think what my buddy Benny is trying to tell us in this song is that chasing this false happiness will truly bury us alive. I don't know about you, but I DO wanna live until I die. I don't want to be buried alive by nonstop chasing of something that will never bring me fulfillment.

Today, I dare you to find what makes you happy and do it. That sounds pretty simple, right?!

Song of the Suburbs

Ben (Benny) Rector

 

This American dream is 
not what it seems. 
Maybe we’re still breathing
but we’re all asleep

Cause I wanna live
Until I die
Don’t let devil bury me alive
When my heart stops let me go home,
Don’t let the suburbs kill my heart and soul
My heart and soul

Pretty cars and pretty houses
Pretty people on parade
If this dream is what you’re after
Then dreamin’ is where you’ll stay

Cause I wanna live,
Until I die
Don’t let devil bury me alive.
When my heart stops 
Let me go home,
Don’t let the suburbs kill my heart and soul
My heart and soul

Are we just runnin’ in the dark or livin’ 
Are we just runnin in the dark or livin’

Cause I wanna live, 
Until I die
Don’t let the Devil bury me alive.
When my heart stops,
Let me go home 
Don’t let the suburbs… 

Oh I wanna live 
Until I die 
Don’t let the Devil bury me alive
When my heart stops, 
Let me go Home, 
Don’t let the suburbs kill my heart and soul
Kill my heart and soul
My heart and soul