Threads that are golden don't break easily...

I just realized you might be curious about my blog title. I wouldn't blame you. I'd be curious, too!

It's actually a lyric from one of my favorite Tori Amos songs, "Horses." Here are the lyrics to that song.

Horses
I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons can't go there
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still

And maybe I'll find me a sailor
A tailor
And maybe together we'll make mother well
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As long as your army
Keeps perfectly still

You showed me the meadow
And Milkwood and Silkwood
And you would if I would
But you never would
So I chased down your posies
Your pansies in my hosies
Then opened my hands and they were empty then

Off with Superfly
Sniffing a Sharpie pen
Honey it's Bill and Ben
Off with Superfly
Counting your bees
Oh me honey like
One two three
The camera is rolling
It's easy like one, two, three

And if there is a way to find you
I will find you
But will you find me if Neil makes me a tree
An afro, a pharaoh
I can't go, you said so
And threads that are golden don't break easily

I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons can't go there
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still

Her lyrics are decidedly interesting. People seem to fall into two camps on this issue - they love that they can't decipher them, and they hate that they can't decipher them. I'm lodged firmly in the former camp - I like interpreting things in my own way, sort of like reading poetry. That's what listening to and reading Tori Amos's lyrics are like for me.

So what do I think that lyric means, "And threads that are golden don't break easily"? Well, I can approach it in two ways. When I hear that lyric, I am reminded of the Moirae, the three sister goddesses in Greek mythology (also known as the Fates) who literally held humanity in their hands. Clotho was the sister in charge of creation, and she formed life by "weaving" it. Lachesis was in charge of measuring one's "thread." And lastly, Atropos had the powerful job of cutting your "thread" at the end of your life.

Regular humans had ordinary threads, but it was believed the threads belonging to the gods were golden and thus more difficult to break.

So you can see the lyric in this way, as a simple reference to mythology. But I also see it another way. Every breath of life, every moment of experience, every person we meet forms slender threads that help make up the complex tapestry of our life. But if these moments and people be special, those threads are golden and don't break easily.