"Do It Again" by Nada Surf

One of my favorite bands, Nada Surf, recently came out with a new album of covers and to whet my appetite before I could get my hands on some digital mp3's I went back to some of their old albums and listened to them all the way through.  One song kept sticking out to me because a few lines really resonated with a convergence of work/family overload I recently experienced.  But as I dug out from that overload I started to see the song differently and through the eyes of some of the family members of patients who were dying.


Here is a video of Nada Surf performing "Do It Again" live in a record store (there is no official video and check out the cool drum box the drummer is using, it is called a cajon and is very fun to play!):



The main lyric that first caught my attention was near the end of the song when the energy picks up from the mid tempo relaxed arrangement used for most of the song.  The lyric is:

Maybe this weight was a gift / Like I had to see what I could lift

Interestingly the name of the album is 'The Weight is a Gift.'  Which also echoes a sentiment I hear from patients, families and staff, which is that 'God will not give us more (weight) than one can handle.'  This saying may be rooted in I Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

While it mentions temptations and not more specifically trials, you could see the basic sentiment exists that has launched many self-help books.  People endure many different hardships throughout their life and eventually most get through it but they have changed, some for good and some for worse.  How one emerges from the tough times is up to the individual and their support system, but it may sometimes turn out that 'the weight was a gift.'  Just don't tell that too them in the middle of their journey.  That is only something that should be self-discovered.

Lyrics: (2005 Barsuk Records - The Weight is a Gift)
Well I'd snap to attention / If I thought that you knew the way
I'd open my mouth / If I had something smart to say
I bought a stack of books / I didn't read a thing
It's like I'm sitting here / Waiting for birds to sing

Let's do it again
Come on let's do it again
Please let's do it again

The hum of the clock / Is a far-away place
The azalea air holding your face / You're lying down
And the moon is sideways / (From the hot to the cold It never gets old)

I spend all my energy / Staying upright
And I like the masking noise quiet / Of your breathing nearby

I want you lazy science / I want some peace
Are you the future? / Show me the keys

When I accelerate / I remember why it's good to be alive / Like a twenty-five cent game
Maybe this weight was a gift / Like I had to see what I could lift
I spend all my energy / Walking upright