The Worst Solitude

I've been listening to this song—"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"—in repeat mode, for the past few weeks. It goes onto my list of all-time-favorite songs filed under SENTIMENTAL MODE.

As my best-friend Rain wrote: "There are two ways to enjoy music. One is by listening to it; the other is by playing it. The first one is good in swelling the emotions to higher levels inside you...."

Being independent and strong is a survivor's trait, yes; but we have to admit that sometimes (in fact, most of the times) we need others. "No person is an island." No one ever was. If you know someone who says s/he was or is or can be, don't believe the person; s/he's either faking it or secretly wallowing in the worst solitude.

“The worst solitude is to be destitute of sincere friendship.”—Francis Bacon (Friendship: A Book of Quotations, edited by Herb Galewitz; 1999, Dover Publications, Inc.)

We simply cannot—and should not—make it on our own all of the time. This is detrimental to our moral and spiritual growth, for too much independence and self-reliance dilutes a person's sense of compassion and consideration.

Would you rather be strong and inconsiderate, pretending you can make it on your own, than be weak and compassionate and always expressive of your need for friends?

"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
by U2
(from the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 2004, Island/Interscope)

Tough, you think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and anyone
You're hard enough

You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own

We fight all the time
You and I
...that's alright
We're the same soul

I don't need
I don't need to hear you say
That if we weren't so alike
You'd like me a whole lot more

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own

I know that we don't talk
I'm sick of it all
Can you hear me when I am singing
You're the reason I sing
You're the reason why the opera is in me

Where are we now?
I've got to let you know
A house still doesn't make a home
Don't leave me here alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you that makes it hard to let go
Sometimes you can't make it on your own
Sometimes you can't make it
The best you can do is to fake it
Sometimes you can't make it on your own

Other recommended U2 tracks that effect a similar mood:
"Bad" (1984, The Unforgettable Fire)
"With or Without You" (1987, Joshua Tree)
"Where the Streets Have No Name" (1987, Joshua Tree)
"One" (1991, Achtung Baby)
"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (2000, All that You Can't Leave Behind)