If A Tree Falls

If Dave Matthews sings a song, and you are not where he is, can you still hear it?

Sometimes, I actually think I can.

On May 16th, this year’s summer tour officially began, at The Woodlands in Texas, and I wasn’t there. In fact, there’s a good possibility that, due to my pregnant state, I won’t be at any shows this summer. I’m just not sure that I could handle standing for three hours, and, let’s face it, seeing DMB live and sitting down is just not an option. So, unless I  gain some cosmic strength in the near future, I’m going to have to sit this one out. At home. Because it’s okay to sit at home while Dave is playing, right?

Anyway, I was falling asleep on the night of May 16th, and somehow, I had managed not to check the set-list online, which was a major event, because, everyone knows that opening night of a summer tour is like the first day of school. You feel it in your bones, even when you haven’t been to school in decades. It’s a part of you, as much as your skin, hair, and nails. But unlike those parts, the connection isn’t lost, just because your physical body happens to be somewhere else.

And so, there I was, resting, when it hit me. All day, I hadn’t imagined, not even once, what song DMB would open with. I knew that there would be a new format this year, with two sets, one acoustic and one electric, and I had wondered how that would sound, but I hadn’t put my annual silent guess in the pot. So, I started thinking. Well, not really. Actually, the word, Bartender, just popped into my mind. First thought, right thought. But then I second guessed myself. I thought that I was just thinking wishfully, since I love that song so much. But then, it all just made sense. Bartender is the perfect song to start this tour with, because it’s a song about death and rebirth, and a new tour is a rebirth of sorts, especially this one, with a brand new format.

Then, before I could talk myself out of what my intuition already knew, I checked online, and found that, indeed, “Bartender” opened the set.

Did you know that we all have the ability to tap into information like this? That each and every one of us can know things, without knowing how we know? There is a collective network out there, that everyone has access to, and, particularly when we are relaxed and in an open state of being, the information is free to flow into our conscious minds. Then we just have the giant task of quieting the internal critic long enough to hear the new information.

So, I believe the answer is yes. We can still hear Dave, even when we aren’t there. Of course, it’s not the same, and in no way replaces the live experience. But, to those of us, who, for whatever reason can’t be in attendance this summer, it’s good to know that some of the magic still shines like diamonds on the inside.

Hayley Bauman, Psy.D.