Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton, One Sweet Day – Mariah Carey & Boyz 2 Men
Death, none is spared from the inevitable cold kiss of death. However, nothing takes us aback as the news of the demise of somebody we knew. One because we refer them in past tense and second because it is unbelievable that you will no longer hear the sound of their voices, see the smile in their faces or enjoy a warm embrace from them. From this time on they are literally cold until they are down to nothing.
Death comes as a shock. Despite its inevitability, despite the fact that in some cases we might see it coming, the feeling we get when the lights are finally out is always shocking. We hope that we might see them again. That even in their absence they hear us. We say sweet words as we part ways hoping they hear us but we can never be sure that they can hear us.
Death is a moment that leads us to reflection, reminiscing the times we had with the departed. The laughs we shared that have suddenly become silence. The cold shoulders with the departed that have turned to regret that we did not work things out when we had the chance.
I lost a brother at a young age. I did not really understand what it meant. It was like he had traveled to a really far place but the way it hurt made it feel like more than just a journey. The eerie feeling whenever I saw him in my dreams and the emptiness of no longer having a playmate made me realize this was more than a trip to a far away location. It was not enough loss as I later in life lost a classmate, a teacher and a friend.
I dream about them sometimes. I wonder if they still know me. If they are looking at me. If I am making them proud, if we would ever meet in the next life or if death is the end of it all and there is no existence after that. That we would never meet again and the little time we had on earth was all we had.
Owing to the circumstances that led to the lyrical masterpiece, there is no way to listen to “Tears in heaven” by Eric Clapton without a teary eye or choking up. Death is something we have no control over and as much as we are aware of that, it still hurts so much. It prevents us from fully living our lives as we are scared that it may take the best from us. We worry more about our beloved leaving us than we do about enjoying the times we have together.
The lyrics to Tears in heaven relates to everyone hoping that we might meet our departed someday. That they will recognize us and will be happy to see us once again. That someday we will dry the tears in the embrace of the departed that went before us. It is a word of hope, only we are unsure of what happens when we die. We can only feel the pain of the present.
Any death comes with regret. Of the things we wanted to say but did not have a chance to say. The lyrics to One Sweet Day best describes our regret of never saying what we should have because our beloved are far gone. It is too late to go back. We only have hope that we will be together eventually and that wherever they are, they are happy.
Eventually, we are forced to accept what life has given to us. We are forced to accept the fact that we will never have the same moments we had with the departed. We will never hear them laugh or wipe the tears from their eyes. All we have is the memories. All we have to do is remember the best of what they showed us. We have to dry the tears from our eyes and smile at their memories. It is the hardest part of losing people we love but we have no choice but to live it. Accept it and hope that one sweet day, we would see them again.
We will never be able to change the fact that no one gets out of this life alive. However, let us get the best of each other when we are alive so that when they are gone we can smile at the good times we shared.