Life, Lessons & Love

Breathless, An Epilogue

January 5, 2021

“What do I have to do to make you want me?” — Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Breathless wasn’t the only song that seemed to carry a message for me. I had encountered others before, and would again.

At the repair shop, I stopped by to swap the OEM CD player back into place. To eject the CD, I turned on the power to the car, and Elton John’s Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word began playing on the radio.

At the time, the lyrics resonated with me as though they were meant for my beloved M3.

I first fell in love with the model in 1995, while on the way into work: a bright red M3 sat in the executive parking spots in front of our office. My head swiveled as I walked toward the building that morning. That. Will. Be. My. Car, I thought. Some day.

As the lyrics played, a few tears slipped down my cheeks. For the first time in my life, I had no trouble sobbing, "I’m sorry."

Now, nearly two decades later, the emphasis has changed. The lyrics I hear most clearly are:

“What do I have to do to make you want me?”

I no longer struggle (much) with saying “sorry.” For the past few years, however, I’ve been awed by the deeper implications of that lyric. I’ll explore them later.