{"id":287,"date":"2018-01-18T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T20:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=287"},"modified":"2022-04-16T10:56:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T17:56:25","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-with-every-wish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/18\/roll-of-the-dice-with-every-wish\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice: With Every Wish"},"content":{"rendered":"

A deep cut from an underrated album, “With Every Wish” escaped my understanding when it debuted on the\u00a0Human Touch<\/em> album in 1992.<\/p>\n

I was 23, very newly wed, and invincible. When I first heard “With Every Wish,” I focused on the\u00a0 chorus:<\/p>\n

Before you choose your wish, son, you better think first:<\/em>
\nWith every wish there comes a curse.<\/em><\/p>\n

…and thought, incorrectly, that the song was a warning to choose wisely, that making the wrong choice can have unforeseen consequences.<\/p>\n

The first two verses supported my interpretation, each presenting a cautionary tale:<\/p>\n

The narrator as a boy, with a Moby Dick-ish obsession over a giant catfish in the lake, skipping church to hunt him, and sinking into the lake when the caught fish pulls him over the side of the boat and into the water.<\/p>\n

The narrator as a man, who wooed and won the prettiest girl in town, only to be consumed with jealousy over the attention of other men, growing mean and cruel toward his girl.<\/p>\n

Both the girl and the “angel of the lake” taught him the same lesson: think before wishing, because every wish carries a curse.<\/p>\n

At 23, I completely missed the word “every,” and I didn’t grok the third verse at all:<\/p>\n

These days I sit around and laugh a<\/em>t the many rivers I’ve crossed<\/em>
\nBut on the far banks there’s always another forest w<\/em>here a man can get lost<\/em>
\nWell there in the high trees love’s bluebird glides<\/em>
\nGuiding us ‘cross to another river on the other side<\/em>
\nAnd there someone is waitin’ with a look in her eyes<\/em>
\nAnd though my heart’s grown weary a<\/em>nd more than a little bit shy<\/em>
\nTonight I’ll drink from her waters to quench my thirst<\/em>
\nAnd leave the angels to worry<\/em>
\nWith every wish…<\/em><\/p>\n

A quarter-century down the road, though, I get it.<\/p>\n

“With Every Wish” isn’t a cautionary tale about avoiding bad choices–quite the opposite, in fact.<\/p>\n

It’s about recognizing that wishes require choices, that *all* choices come with unforeseen consequences, and that recognizing that fact frees you from paralysis and fear and the “what ifs.”<\/p>\n

Bruce isn’t encouraging us to not wish–he’s urging us to lean in and accept the good and bad that comes from the wishes and the choices that we make.<\/p>\n

This is a cautionary tale about caution.<\/p>\n

We have crossed many rivers, but there are many more ahead.
\nWe’ve been burned and broken-hearted, but we can’t help but hope and risk love again.<\/p>\n

Bruce closes the song by returning to the lake he fell into as a boy, this time deliberately drinking from it and ignoring the voice of the lake’s angel.<\/p>\n

“With every wish…” she whispers.<\/p>\n

No need to wait around for the rest of that sentence.<\/p>\n

(Note: this is a great example of a literary device Bruce uses frequently–establishing a chorus and cadence, then ending the song prematurely, leaving the listener to supply the rest and ponder the omission. Here, the effect is profound.)<\/p>\n