#47 (of 365) "Younger Us" Japandroids

This is the song that's at the top of my blog site, and was the featured quote at the top of my old blog, and people used to ask me what it means--that specific line--or why it means so much to me. And to me it's friendship. Or love, or connection with another human being, in whatever way you're connected. It's the story of someone coming home, or coming over, and the friend is already in bed, already sleeping, done for the night, but they get up to drink with them instead. To hang out with them. To continue living, not sleeping through life again. This was an inspiration to me after I (largely) slept through much of my 30s. Remembering being in my 20s and not caring that I didn't sleep, not caring that I would be exhausted for work the next day, or school, or some other responsibility. Just getting up and spending time with someone you cared about. I lived my 40s with this as a mantra and it was glorious. I'd love to say that now in my 50s it has continued but it really hasn't. Almost every night when I go to bed (too early, because I get up at 5:30/6 so I can get a bunch of "the house is quiet" work done before Elie wakes up for her walk at 8) Mike asks me to stay up later with him, to just be with him, not drinking or anything, just watching whatever movie we started that I've started to fall asleep during, or that he's already fallen asleep to, and I almost always say no. Or I'll give him another 15 or 20 minutes and then he'll inevitably come upstairs as well but the point is--I don't live by the Younger Us mantra anymore and maybe it's okay. I enjoy waking up early. I love getting stuff done--my work, my writing, my workouts, early in the day, so I feel accomplished and I'm not rushing around as much in the evening--I can go out, I can have fun, but the downside (and it's significant) is if the fun lasts past 10 pm, I'm going to be tired the next day and that's not as fun as it once was. So maybe it's not okay. I don't know. I don't know that I can go back to that life--especially with Elie. But I do miss it. I really, really miss it. A few times recently I've been up until 1 am because of concerts and I love the feeling, I really do love coming home on a late L train or PATH train, it reminds me so much of so much of what I did in my 40s in Hoboken. But this time, now? I'm still up at 6 and my next day is wrecked. So I can't do it too much anymore. Anyway, I love this song.

Remember when we had them all on the run
And the night we saw midnight sun
Remember saying things like "we'll sleep when we're dead"
And thinking this feeling was never gonna end
Remember that night you were already in bed
Said "fuck it" got up to drink with me instead!​

​Gimme that naked new skin rush
Give me younger us
Gimme that you and me in a grave trust
Give me younger us
Gimme that girls learning love, wild and free
Give me younger us
Gimme my boys and I swimmin' through the streets
Give me younger us

"Younger Us" - Japandroids // Celebration Rock (2010)