Those Certain Songs: ‘Come Downstairs and Say Hello’ Guster (2003)

There are certain songs that just resonate with you. Whether that song recreates a moment in time or is just one that you really like, these songs are the songs that helped create the person you are and are constant companions in the journey called life.

This year I am introducing  new regular series exploring those special songs in my life and what they mean to me.   This is Those Certain Songs. Today’s song: ‘Come Downstairs and Say Hello’ by Guster.

The Song:

Title: Come Downstairs and Say Hello

Artist: Guster

Album: Keep It Together

The Lyrics:
Dorothy moves to click her ruby shoes
Right in tune with Dark Side of the Moon
Someone, someone could tell me
Where I belong
Be calm, be brave, it’ll be okay

No more messing around and living underground
On new year’s resolutions
By this time next year, I won’t be here
I turn on, turn on MTV, the volume’s down
Lips move, they say
It’ll be okay

To tell you the truth, I’ve said it before
Tomorrow I start in a new direction
One last time these words from me
I’m never saying them again
And I shut the light
And listen as my watch unwinds

To tell you the truth I’ve said it before
Tomorrow I start in a new direction
I know I’ve been half-asleep
I’m never doing that again

I look straight at what’s coming ahead
And soon it’s going to change in a new direction
Every night as I’m falling asleep
These words repeated in my head

Voices calling from a yellow road
To come downstairs and say hello
Don’t be shy, just say hello

To tell you the truth I’ve said it before
Tomorrow I start in a new direction
I know I’ve been half-asleep
I’m never doing that again

I look straight at what’s coming ahead
And soon it’s going to change in a new direction
Every night as I’m falling asleep
Those words repeated in my head

What it means to me:

I have started my life over more times than I can count. Whether it was starting a life away from my home town, starting a new relationship, moving to a new place, starting a new career or just hitting the reset button and starting it all over, it seems that much of my life is in a state of flux. Even recently we made another big move to a new state and a new job, and even with such a big move, I was ready to pick up and move along with it.

This song, one that I discovered sometime in 2003 after picking up the album, is one that always plays in my head when I am facing a change in my life.  It is one that reminds me that, if things get too hard I have a choice to face them how ever I see fit.  Even if that means hitting that reset button and changing direction. It reminds me that I have the power to make any choice I want in life and those choices are the one’s that make me who I am.   So many times I have been faced with a decision in my life and the chorus repeats in my head:

‘To tell you the truth I’ve said it before
Tomorrow I start in a new direction
I know I’ve been half-asleep
I’m never doing that again’

While I have started in a new direction many times, I always feel like each time is a nice refresher, a new adventure and each time feels like it might be the last one, even though I know there is always a chance for change just around the corner. In fact, this very blog entry marks one of many smaller ‘new directions’ and boy is it exciting. Welcome to Those Certain Songs, I hope you enjoy the songs that mean something to me as much as I do.

Late to the Game 9/19/2020 (originally published 1/4/2020)

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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed  Those Certain Songs.  If you would like to read more about music you can find my Music Reviews Here.

Additionally, I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and also check out some retro tv goodness with the ongoing series Retro TV Reviews. 

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