IMPRESSIONS V - The Strange Sensation of Meaning in Earl Klugh’s ‘Drifting’
Prompt: The Strange Sensation of Meaning
Song: Drifting
Artist: Earl Klugh
Currently, I stay quarter to death in the poverty stricken quarters of the trenches of hard times. Yes, I have strayed away from the depressing echoes of hopelessness and even though I’m ridden with the bullet holes of meaninglessness, I can still touch the quantum realm of meaning even with the icy fingers of visualization and prayers.
Drifting helps me understand that sometimes we complicate meaning. Meaning is not waiting for any of us in the art gallery of Life. Existence is inherently devoid of meaning, and any claims it presently makes to meaning are authored by its internal mechanisms, which are compelled to utilize the canvas they were endowed with in their maternal inception. Life is not bothered by our drawings — the gigantic structures or the minute scribblings of our mortal compulsion make no difference in the formless grand scheme of things. Hell, there are no grand schemes. Just motions and super motions, the superlative one being the motion of Drifting.
I found a definition of Drifting — Moving aimlessly or at the mercy of external forces. Life often exhibits a peculiar irony. We tend to hit more targets when we’re not actively aiming for them. More goals are scored when the intention to do so is not the primary focus. We often acquire more when our pursuit is not overly forceful. Personally, I find that I produce more written content when the act of writing is not my explicit intention.
While listening to Drifting, I love to imagine myself on a bed floating on a large river propelled by paddles coming out of me. Sometimes it’s sunny and sometimes it rains but I resist every urge to take over the paddles. Lols. I have tried. It makes no difference. So I just drift and allow the currents in me to write their (my) stories.
In the midst of the song at no particular time stamp whatsoever, I would feel grateful and weirdly contented. Its weird because how can I be content on an empty stomach? But that’s the strange magic of Earl Klugh’s maestro. Try listening to Drifting at night as you get ready to sleep. My favorite part of the piece is the riff repetition towards the end. I plan putting it on a loop. What my heart heard in that riff was ‘It is well. Drift on. Drift off. It will be well. Or not. Just drift’.
Through Earl’s clean and intentional pluck of the strings, Drifting encourages me to bask in the formless randomness of life. It helps me to find beauty in uncertainty and joy in spite of the fleeting moments of life. I hope it does the same for you.
