My Gen X Playlist: Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

It’s an odd thing. I’m hoping to retire within five years and I can’t wait for that day to come. At the same time, I’m trying to slow down father time because it’s flying by too damn fast. It’s a jumble of conflicting feelings.

Broaching the 60 year mark is definitely a psychological hurdle. And I realize that today’s 60 isn’t a mirror reflection of the 60 when I was kid. Crossing over is something I never thought about until recently. Maybe because it’s finally close enough I can almost touch it. My hands are searching for the emergency brake because the brake peddle doesn’t seem to be working.

In the same breath, I’m also counting down the days when I can walk away from my 9 to 5. I’ve already had a taste of retirement while on sabbatical and in a word, it’s glorious. I can’t wait until it gets here. How do I speed things up?

So, that leaves me with two competing facts: I can’t wait for five years to pass so I can retire and I want to delay my inevitable sixties. It just proves two conflicting ideas can be true at the same time. I wonder if others also grapple with this mixed feeling with time. I want it to simultaneously be both fast and slow. Is that even possible?

I was thinking about songs that were both slow and fast. It reminded me of the last song at my junior high school dance. Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven came on and we all hit the floor for the last slow dance. What’s better than slow dancing with a pretty girl? But of course, you know what happens about six minutes in. The song takes a hard turn. It’s not only fast, but loud. It’s not like we didn’t know the song or anything. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. But when you are a hormonal junior high school kid, you’re simply not thinking that far ahead. When that turn hit, we all stood there dazed. Do we continue to slow dance or what? I recall we all stood there with confused looks on our faces. What a strange way to end my last junior high school dance.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to Heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to Heaven
There's a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Ooh, makes me wonder
Ooh, makes me wonder

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking

Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, really makes me wonder

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter

Oh-oh-oh-oh-whoa

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed, now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on

And it makes me wonder
Oh, whoa

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow? And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll

And she's buying a stairway to Heaven