We all have had moments in life when the world suddenly feels very small. Moments when everything grows quiet and heavy and you don’t know if you can really go on. We have all been there in one way or another, standing in the dark, soaked through, wondering if there is a river we can skate away on. Grief. Depression. Loss. Addiction. Hurt. Different names for the same cold water.
When Rudy Fischmann asked me to talk about the song “The Joke,” by Brandi Carlile on Discograffiti PERFECT SONGS FOREVER PODCAST. I was honestly a little worried. I did not come into this with a lifetime of memories tied to her music. In fact I have no clue about her music at all.
What I did know about Brandi was her deep belief in another artist I love, Joni Mitchell. In 2015, Joni survived a devastating brain aneurysm, a near death experience that stripped away her ability to speak and play guitar and left one of the greatest artists ever fighting simply to be herself again. Then in 2022, something truly beautiful happened. Through patience, persistence, and genuine love, Brandi helped create the space for Joni to return to the stage. Not as a moment or a headline, but as herself. Singing. Playing. Being.
When I watched Joni sing again, I was brought to tears. Not because it was nostalgic, but because it was proof. Proof that belief can be healing. Proof that sometimes we do not pull ourselves out of the darkness alone. Sometimes someone else stands there first and says, I believe in you, until we are able to believe it too.
I must admit I loved this song so much!
It is about standing next to someone when the world has already decided they are finished. It’s about choosing compassion. But not only compassion, it's about the resilience of building someone back up to stand!
We all need people like that. Friends who are willing to put their own lives on pause for a moment so someone else can catch their breath. People who understand that believing in someone can be the difference between sinking and finding solid ground again.
Brandi's song and her pursuit of Joni’s return is inspiring and helps me to want to always be someone who builds others up, who shows up with patience, and who believes in people when they are struggling to believe in themselves. To help others remember that love is still there, and maybe find a way to look at it from both sides now.
Big thanks to Dave Gebroe for creating the best Deep Dive music podcast in the biz Discograffiti join the patreon and listen here..