Shuffle Synchronicities: Volume 1 - #111
Guest Post by Chris Cole + "Hurts Like Heaven" by Coldplay - 04/23/21
Today we have a guest post from the bipolar life coach, transpersonal therapist, memoir author, friend, and reader of the Shuffle, Chris Cole, with whom I did a podcast earlier in April.
Besides also doing his own shuffle synchronicities himself Chris is also into numbers like I am, so he requested that he do post #111. It’s an angel number, which often suggests a connection to the spirit world.
Ironically, or not, I got Coldplay’s “Hurts Like Heaven”
But without further adieu, here’s Chris Cole’s guest post!
I want to start by thanking Dave. Shuffle Synchronicities is a true gift, and I love a fun chance to free associate. I shall indulge.
“Close" by Jade Eagleson
Sometimes I only see the title and name. I’m a busy guy, lol. My immediate association with this song, at first glimpse, correlates to our current sociopolitical landscape. I remember President Biden saying something about Jim Eagle when asked about Jim Crow in my home state of Georgia. I also recently watched and fell in love with the Black Panther movement as presented in the film Judas and the Black Messiah. Oh, and hot tip: the soundtrack is fire. Wow. What a complex world we live in. Intelligence. Intolerance. Slow progress. Swift change. I hold compassion for all of it.
We are all one vote, but some of us effect change more than others. There’s a strong savior complex internalized in the belly my country. Perhaps this is true for all of western civilization. I think the founding fathers were mystics and scholars, as well as slave owners and bigots. How to hold complexity. Maybe we are close. It was way back in 2003 when I realized I could be both Jesus and the President of the United States in the middle of an Athens, GA Waffle House. What a manic trip, and yet, such power does exist. Who rides the wave? Who misses the boat?
Aside from my budding aspirations to be the El Capitan of my fraternity, I didn’t have much aim in life. Being bipolar thrusted me into a recovery path that defines my work. Free association is my second language, and I am fluent. A cunning linguist, if you will. Many of us have forgotten the meaning of names, when this was probably a big-ass deal once upon a time. I got a bodhisattva name once: Vajra Jester Benefiting Others. I also was confirmed with the patron saint Christopher, my own namesake.
I consider my path a sort of mystical mindfulness. I think we are in a global revolution of spiritual proportions. Those that think crumbling systems is going to solve anything are mistaken. We need replacement therapy, not abolitionism. That’s hard for me to admit as a self-proclaimed activist/advocate. We need the structures around us, but we also need change. A conundrum. So how high are the stakes really for our country, for our oceans, for our world, for our galaxy, for interfaith and interspiritual relations?
I return to the song again, and again. It’s a shuffle and repeat situation. Jade Eagleson must mean something like The Son of Eagle, Jaded by the politics of today. But he’s singing the song of “Close.” Close to what exactly? Freedom. Love. Acceptance. Peace. Compassion. Equality. Beloved Community. Or so my imagination takes me!
Upon reading the lyrics, there’s more to the story. There’s always more to every story. I spent some years in Nashville as a child, so it reminds me of my youth, my innocence. Please find my little commentary in italics, however loose they may be…
Gimme a Tennessee Smokey mountain high (Those nature-loving volunteers know good country music.)
Or a Times Square, New Years eve, midnight (I always chuckled when Donald Trump hugged the flag.)
Every all time can't top this (Grandiosity beyond all comprehension is a thing.)
Gimme a hail mary pass in the big game (Sports and spirituality are an odd pairing that somehow works.)
Or a front row, encore, George Strait (Does Beyoncé like country music?)
Every bullet on your bucket list (Don’t shoot those things most precious to you.)
Nothing comes close to you, this close to me (The breath is as close as it gets.)
Ridin' on my right, no space between (I bet this song plays well in Nascar arenas.)
Got those can't wait eyes, and I'm just tryin' to keep mine (Guys gotta remember, a woman comes first.)
On the road (Those truckers need a nod and some fresh tunes.)
Nothing comes close, to this far out (Is our universe just like a semi-permeable intergalactic membrane within a multiverse?)
Gettin' side by side with a blanket down (Wet blanket means a bummer, but this song is dry heat like a sauna. I love it.)
Girl, look at that sun settin', if this ain't Heaven, we're close (Love is made. I wonder what love really is, and I think it’s life.)
We're close (Hang in there, whatever your struggle. Things change.)
Give me an open road, Bronco, drop top (Those new Ford Broncos are dope.)
A stocked fishin' hole and a rollin' rock (Christians are sometimes called fish, but they roll downhill like everyone else.)
Anything you can dream on up (Life is full of possibility, but there are also guaranteed challenges.)
It's got nothing on you right here, right now (The present moment contains freedom, space, and time.)
With your head on my shoulder, and your hair let down (This pandemic has a lot of folk lonely and in need of touch.)
Girl, I just can't get you close enough (Jade getting tantric up in here!)
Nothing comes close to you, this close to me (So so tantric, like for real, go bro.)
Ridin' on my right, no space between (Bubba Wallace needs more credit.)
Got those can't wait eyes, and I'm just trying to keep mine (She’s a tigress and reigns with ferocious passion.)
On the road (I got a trucker to honk the other day by obnoxiously pumping my fist up and down.)
Nothing comes close, to this far out (Nondual wisdom that would make any Buddha proud.)
Gettin' side by side with a blanket down (Now we’re driving, but like, with a blanket. Hot.)
Girl, look at that sun settin', if this ain't Heaven, we're close (There’s gotta be a reason there’s always hot sex when the afterlife comes up.)
We're close (Close to what. Jade making me blush.)
The highest high (God is the best high around — heard that in twelve step circles.)
On top of the world (True love is like that. There’s nothing better.)
Anything, everything (Generosity for your lover is a good way to keep your lover._
You name it girl (Jade is like, real generous.)
Nothing comes close to you, this close to me (I’m really appreciating the sexual innuendos in such a clean song.)
Riding on my right, no space between (For real, are we waving a checkered flag and driving Nascar right here?)
Got those can't wait eyes, and I'm just tryin' to keep mine (This song is pretty hot. The country genre has such underrated wisdom.)
On the road (There are so many people living in cars these days.)
Nothing comes close, to this far out (This song has some serious non-dual-Christ vibes.)
Gettin' side by side with a blanket down (Oh it’s like a picnic. Low-key hot and budget-friendly date.)
Girl look at that sun settin', if this ain't Heaven, we're close (Heaven and love-making. It’s a tale as old as Time.)
We're close (So close.)
We're close, we're close (Thanks for reading.)
We're close (May you find what you’re looking for.)
Love the post, Chris! Thank you! Especially the “close” free-associative “reading” of the lyrics. I’ve often vibed that closely with lyrics when manic. And when not ;)
Interesting that both our songs talk about “heaven.”
I’m taking an online class with Richard Rohr right now, and he talks about the parable of the banquet that we’re all invited to participate in as Heaven on Earth.
So I also felt the non-dual Christ vibes with this Jade song.
In my song, Coldplay sings, “Do you ever get the feeling that you’re missing the mark?"
“Sin” of course originally meaning nothing more than “missing the mark.”
And:
“It's so cold, it's so cold”
Which suggests a cruel, cold world.
But then there’s the double meaning to the chorus:
“Oh, you use your heart as a weapon
And it hurts like heaven”
Which could mean something like someone using their heart to hurt others like a weapon.
Or something instead like using the heart as a weapon to heal.
Kind of like what MLK referencing non-violent Christianity said:
“Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”
The song is from a Coldplay concept album that suggests Christian Gnosticism with a world needing “sparkers” to light the inherent “spark” in each member of the population oppressed by a lack of knowledge of their inherent divinity:
“Mylo Xyloto is the story of revolutionaries on the dark, dismal world of Silencia. The world is run by the silencers, led by Major Minus, and the population is under direct control by the silencers through mass media and consumption.
Using fictional creatures made-up by Major Minus known as “eaters”, he aims to prevent the world being dowsed in colour and sound as a means to prevent revolution.
Another group, known simply as “sparkers”, have a different viewpoint. Knowing that the “eaters” are a lie made up by Major Minus, they set out, with their inherited ability to create colour with their imagination, to cover the streets in colour and sound.”
If you’re looking for a spark in your life consider visiting colecoaching.com to check out more of Chris’ work.
Okay, that’s the hundred and eleventh Shuffle Synchronicities.