What Goes Around Comes AroundBlues in the Bottle By Ned Wicker What goes around comes around is thrown about as a common explanation for the disappointments of life and the payback for bad decisions. But for those struggling with the disease of alcoholism, it goes around and it comes around is a metaphor for an endless cycle of suffering. Blues/folk artist Chris Smither is one of my favorite recording artists. He and his friend Lightin’ Hopkins collaborated on an arrangement of a public domain song entitled “Blues in a Bottle,” one of the cuts on Smither’s “Leave The Light On’ CD. The story is about the hopeless existence of a poor, working man, who has no sense of improving his lot in life, turning instead to the numbing effect of alcohol. The lyrics lament, “Pour the blues out of the bottle, pour them into the man.” Repeatedly the singer moans, “Doggone my bad luck soul.” Alcohol and the blues are a common fit. Numbing pain by self medicating are part of the profile of one who has slid into the grips of alcoholism, seeing no alternative to feeling bad about who he is and what he has become. Here are the lyrics:
Blues in the bottle, blues in the bottle,
Blues come to Texas, blues come to Texas,
Picked all my cotton, picked all my cotton,
Blues in the bottle, blues in the bottle, Many of Smither’s songs over the years have dealt with our wrestling match with the human condition. Whether his own, or covering of another artist, these songs tell the story of how we cope with the darker side of life. His concerts present a tapestry of human experience, with a glimmer of hope, which is the strength of the human spirit. Regardless of an alcoholic’s lot in life, there is hope and there is help. There is always an alternative to numbing the pain and self-medicating to the point of destroying one’s health to the point of dying. The strength of the human spirit is implanted in us by the creator, to give us enough strength, day-by-day, to cope with the down side of just being. However, the fulfillment of the human experience lies in relationship with God, as we understand him, and the life-giving power of victory over alcoholism and addiction. “Pour the blues out of the bottle, pour ‘em into the man,” does not have to be the end. There is so much more. (Chris Smither’s music can be purchased at http://smither.com) Ned Wicker is Addictions Chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital Lawrence Center
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