Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
April 13, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: All That You Have Is Your Soul   

You can give up 
your mind, at least 
some of the time, 
 
you can give them 
your body, maybe 
the best years of 
 
your life. And they’ll 
take a little piece of 
your heart – even if 
 
you won’t admit 
it. But please don’t 
let them take 
 
your soul. Don’t 
let them steal it 
from you – they 
 
will do so when 
you’re complacent, 
your dreams 
 
and any other 
schemes lying 
adjacent, you slowly 
 
dying on the vine, as 
John Cale put it. 
Don’t let them 
 
take your soul away 
because all that 
you have is 
 
your soul. I learned 
that best, from a  
Tracy Chapman song. 
 
It’s not always the best 
place to learn things – but 
it’s worked well enough 
 
for me. I’ve given them 
bits of my body and mind 
from time to time, but I’ll 
 
hope to never give up 
my soul. All that you 
have is your soul.  

Posted in Blog, Miscellany and tagged with All That You Have Is Your Soul, John Cale, Poem, Poem: All That You Have Is Your Soul, Tracy Chapman. RSS 2.0 feed.
« Graeme Jefferies: Time Flowing Backwards
The Vinyl Countdown # 317 »

Popular

  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • Time Casts Its Spell: When Silver Springs Became The Secret Weapon It Had Always Threatened To Be
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • Prince: Tokyo Dome 1990
  • Everything Must Go: My Last Time At The Record Fair
  • Bono’s Book
  • On: Neil Young’s Decade
  • Where Have All The Kiwi Soundtracks Gone?

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Blog Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Poetry Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2022 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press