Everything is Broken . . .

But Here Comes the Sun!

Today is a beautiful summer-like day in my small part of the world. It is warm (but not as stifling as it is off-Cape), the sun is shining, the birds are singing (they do that all day, for free!), the neighborhood is quiet, the Celtics are in the playoffs (their hands full with the Miami Heat), the Red Sox are finally winning, and here I am sitting in front of my computer as I do every day. The temptation is great to make this brief. I will succumb.

Some of you know that I am a Bob Dylan fan. I keep my fan-ness within reasonable bounds. I have always eschewed hero worship of any kind. Even with Dylan, I have not extended my admiration to the next level of fanaticism. (Is that where the word “fan” comes from?)

Last night I was thinking about his song, “Everything is Broken.” Wikipedia says it “is an uptempo rock song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and released as the first single from his 1989 album Oh Mercy, where it appears as the third track.” The wiki entry goes on, but I was distracted by wondering what it must be like to have achieved such preeminence as a songwriter not only to have your own Wikipedia page, but to have substantial individual pages devoted to specific songs. It seems, though, that Dylan is not alone in that regard.

When I first heard “Everything is Broken” and saw the music video, I thought it an odd song. It just lists a whole bunch of things that are broken. Wikipedia refers to it as a “list song,” a sub-genre I never knew existed. It also says that the song “describes a world where everything seems to be broken.” Our world, I suppose.

However true such universal brokenness seemed in 1989 (the year the Berlin Wall came down, no less), doesn’t it seem at least as true today? I’ve posted links to the song and to the lyrics below. The song lists a lot of things that the narrator says are broken, and each verse ends with the line “Everything is broken.” The things seem chosen and listed randomly, a mix of concrete objects and abstract undertakings, as in the final verse shown here:

Broken hands on broken ploughs

Broken treaties, broken vows,

Broken pipes, broken tools

People bending broken rules

Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking

Everything is broken

I wonder how Dylan’s list would change if he were rewriting the song today (which he, the consummate re-writer/re-arranger, may well have done). Since the state of brokenness is a condition as old as time itself, maybe his list wouldn’t change at all. But we can see that brokenness in action, can’t we? Broken democracy. Broken buildings in Ukraine. Broken climate. Broken response to a world-wide contagion. Is it mere coincidence that the album’s title, “Oh Mercy,”  calls to mind that poignant Marvin Gaye song, “Mercy Mercy Me?” Gaye was singing about the looming environmental crisis (in 1971!), while Dylan’s broken vista is much broader. Where Whitman contained multitudes, Dylan’s vision of a broken world contains everything.

But I’m not writing this from an attitude of despair. Everything is broken. The world is imperfect, we are imperfect, and from our imperfection we rain more imperfection down on ourselves. That’s just the way it is. In Biblical terms, it’s known as “the Fall.” In secular terms, it’s the human condition. In scientific terms, I suppose it’s entropy. Accepting that reality is a humbling experience and a necessary step towards coping with the brokenness within and around us.

The trick is to emerge from this acceptance of brokenness to see and participate in the other side, the goodness, the rightness of humanity and the world. Despite all the tragedy unfolding in the world (these days, Ukraine), and our own country (this week, Buffalo), I remain convinced that, in the end, good will always triumph over evil, freedom will always defeat tyranny, and love will always conquer hate. The constant struggle between brokenness and wholeness, between light and darkness, is a given. What is required of each of us is a decision, renewed each day, to embrace and reflect the light, whatever that might mean in each of our individual and communal lives.

For now, though, I see the sunlight shining through my window and feel the warmth that it brings. After a long, cold winter, I don’t want to miss this day, so I will end my missive here. Dylan is right, everything is broken. But George Harrison also was right, “Here Comes the Sun.” I plan to enjoy a little piece of it today. I hope you can too.

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Here is an audio link to “Everything is Broken” on YouTube.

Here is a link to the lyrics from Dylan’s website.

Here is a link to the song’s Wikipedia page.