I never was good at bowling....

When it comes to music, I tend to find a CD that I like and stick with it until I know the songs inside and out and I'm bordering on being really sick of it. That CD right now is Sara Groves' Fireflies and Songs. It was a Christmas gift from Dan, and in the craziness of the holidays and the new year, I've finally started really listening to it.

We saw Sara in concert in December. She performed mostly music from her Christmas album, which is really great, but she also shared a few songs from Fireflies and Songs. There was one particular song that I loved right away, and it's one that makes me hit "repeat" when I'm in the car. When I was listening to it last night, I realized that I probably wouldn't have as much appreciation for it if I hadn't heard her sing it live and preface it with how she came to write it.

She explained that she wrote this song while she was washing the dishes one night. She was really frustrated to be washing dishes that someone was just going to make dirty again. (At which point Dan looked at me and laughed--that is a constant frustration of mine). She went on about how so many things were like that--you make the beds just to have someone sleep in them again, you clean the bathroom just to have your preschooler pee on the wall, you wash the diapers only to have your baby poop in them again (okay, that one is mine). But she went on to explain that bowling wouldn't be a very fun game if you didn't get to knock the pins down after they were so nicely set up. It's just how it works!

So here are the lyrics and a snazzy video of the Groves family that they played during the live performance. Enjoy. :) And join me in the daily battle/game of all of these silly pins!

Setting up the Pins

man in a silk tie heads downtown
setting up the pins for knocking 'em down
people in cars all rushing around
setting up the pins

let's get rich find a way around
setting up the pins for knocking 'em down
we'll get a gadget with a whirring sound
for setting up the pins

everyone everywhere some way somehow
are setting up the pins for knocking 'em down

you can find joy in the fertile ground
setting up the pins and knocking 'em down
it can feel simple but it's really profound
setting up the pins

rent a tent, build a stage, throw a party, get a gown
buy a ticket, rent a car, pack a bag and leave town,
cook a dinner, clean the kitchen, hit the light
brush your teeth, read a book, say a prayer good-night

everyone everywhere some way somehow
are setting up the pins for knocking 'em down
it can feel simple but it's really profound...

my grandmother had a working song
hummed it low all day long
sing for the beauty that's to be found
in setting up the pins for knocking 'em down