Gill writes:
We’ve been dropping a weekly reflection on the Friday Fix for nearly 5 years now. 5 years! Where does the time go? In that time, there have been Fixes about more than one song from some artists, and there are still hundreds, well probably thousands actually, of really popular artists and musicians whose songs have not yet made it as a Friday Fix.
It occurs to me that the Eurythmics is one of those popular groups that has not graced the Friday Fix thus far, so today I felt it was time to home in on one of their tracks. To be fair, I could have opted for a few of theirs – ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’, ‘Thorn In My Side’ and ‘You Have Placed a Chill In My Heart’ often sum up my mood about the state of the world lately – so instead I’ve veered towards ‘When Tomorrow Comes’ with its glimmer of hope and, in my humble opinion, its banging tune.
Just as I wrote that last paragraph, the weekly missive on Helen Russell’s Substack (Living Danishly with Helen Russell) dropped in my inbox. The first part of the title grabbed me (those who know me well won’t be surprised) ‘Why optimism isn’t frivolous…’ and so I’ve diverted off down that rabbit-hole because it seems a little related to what this song says to me. Helen is talking about tillid this week, a Danish word that encompasses both ‘faith’ and ‘trust’.
That’s what this song is about. Tillid.
The narrative is about someone watching over the person they love as they sleep, promising to always be there for them. You can face tomorrow because I will be there for you to depend upon. The song suggests it’s a partner we are hearing about, but it could just as easily be a child, or even (as I glance to my left at the snuggled and snoring bundle of fur of Brontë Dog ) a sleeping pet. It captures that vulnerable space where sleep takes us to – that other world where our worries and cares trouble us less.
And I was wondering where you were
You know you looked just like a baby
Fast asleep in this dangerous world.
Every star was shining brightly
Just like a million years before.
We trust that we will awake tomorrow. And we trust that those who care for us will be there watching over us, propping us up and giving us the support we need.
Faith and trust. Tillid.
This doesn’t have to be contained to just our ‘family’ unit. This can encompass a much wider encouragement to be present for others, especially those who are marginalized or facing adversity.
And you know that I’m gonna be the one
Who’ll be there
When you need someone to depend upon
When tomorrow comes
When tomorrow comes
It’s a reminder that each new day is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others and to contribute to the collective journey towards a more just and compassionate world.
It’s not an easy world to be living in these days. Maybe it has always been so. My Pollyanna-ish tendencies have been challenged relentlessly lately but I still maintain that there is always hope. Even when something feels too tough to get past, it’s the hope that there is another side that drives us on. And we aren’t alone. There is someone we can depend upon, even if we don’t know them yet. Tillid. Faith and trust rolled into one.
Find out more about Eurythmics at https://www.eurythmics.com/
The Friday Fix 