Rory McIlroy, Ben Rector, and me
The other day I met serious resistance as I was writing my book. I stopped writing and went for a walk. I was so frustrated that even after 1,000 blogs posts and years of consistency, I was still encountering strong resistance to writing. A lyric popped in my head at that moment. “These people, they don’t know the weight of dreams.”
This was from a short, incomplete song that an artist named Ben Rector wrote. He posted a video singing the verse and chorus the day after beloved golfer Rory McIlroy blew a 1-shot lead with three holes to go in the US Open by missing two putts under 3 feet. He absolutely choked. In his caption, Ben Rector wrote how it crushed him to see Rory so close but then crumble on national television.
That lyric from that Instagram post “They don’t know the weight of dreams” stuck with me since then. So, on Tuesday, when I went on my own frustrated walk, I used those lyrics to calm myself down.
On Wednesday, Ben Rector announced that he finished the song, and was releasing it this Friday. This morning, I woke up, went on a walk, and listened to it. Then I wrote the fifth chapter of my book. I’ll paste the lyrics below.
Cheesy? Maybe. But cheesy is what we need sometimes.
Brother, believe me
I know that it's hard sometimes
The bloody noses, blackened eyes
But god I love the way you try, and try, and try again.
These people they don't know the weight of dreams
How hard and lonely it can be
To carry that flame honestly
To keep from going dim
And I don't know how long it takes to get to where we're going
I don't know if we arrive
Me I don't know much of anything but thanks for showing
That you're not afraid to try
And when you feel like giving up
And when it all feels like too much
Brother, you took that weight and carried it on
So if they want to, let them talk
That's how you know they've never walked
Inside this ring and stood up tall
To go a couple rounds
I wish I knew if you'd catch all your dreams
And finally feel finality
But deep down, man, I think we're just swinging
Til we're in the ground
And I don't know how long it takes to get to where we're going
I don't know if we arrive
Well me I don't know much of anything but thanks for showing
That you're not afraid to try
Listen to the song here on Apple Music (which pays artists nearly three times as much for every stream as Spotify).
