Some time ago I heard a piece of advice that would apply to me and how I deal with relationships. It went like this, “Nine out of ten times she’s honey bunny- one out of ten times she’s huffy bunny, and when she’s huffy bunny there’s only one person who can shut the hell up and that person is me.”
You see for many years , I was the guy who thought the last word must be said. No matter how wrong I was. No matter how right I was. I could have saved myself a lot of pain if i would have only been the one to just walk away.
When I heard Rich O’Tooles latest single, Wildflower Lane, something struck me. How many others were affected by my anger and aggressive behavior? It never dawned on me about the neighbors on the other side of those Sheetrock walls. How many times did my kids have to here me fuss and fight… ? and for what?
Did it end any different? Did it change the painful situation? The answer is clearly NO.
O’Toole is generally a humble man, and sometimes he gets a lot of shit for being the way he is. Sometimes something must be said and he has a way to say it that tries not to offend. He may have learned a few life lessons himself.
In this song, I can hear that pain.. I can see him setting the scene that made him want to curl up and throw everything away. He took that walk down Wildflower Lane and in his mind he may go back there… But he doesn’t have to live in the negative. I can relate because my heart has been flipped upside down, I have been left all alone.
Rich O’Toole is a great songwriter and a good man. I believe this might be one of his deepest thoughts yet, and yet he put it on paper and let his emotions out on the air waves in order to touch a guy like me.
Give the man a chance and see if you can feel yourself in this man’s music. I do – every single time.
Pancho.