On William Shakespeare's 450th Birthday

Today Shakespeare was born 450 years ago.  It is also a special day in my life, as I remember my completion of the Camino de Santiago in 2013 today.

I wrote my song, "Ophelia" with the imagery of Hamlet and Ophelia from Shakespeare's play.  Take a second to give it a listen, and think of how The Bard has influenced your life.

Listen to "Ophelia" HERE

"Ophelia" by John Schmitt

Hamlet to Ophelia, "Adieu, love, adieu."
Echoes through millennia
"Adieu, love, adieu."

We play these plays, and say these parts
While we dance through all these issues in the dark
Feigning madness from the start
As we dance through all these issues in the dark

Hamlet to Ophelia, "Adieu, love, adieu."
Echoes through millennia
"Adieu, love, adieu."

I just can't take the stage and say these parts
While we dance through all these issues in the dark
Feigning madness from the start
We dance through all these issues in the dark

Because Kings will kill Kings
And marry their Queens
But love always seems
to be lost on me.

And so to my Ophelia, "adieu, love, adieu."
It echoes through my heart and lungs
"Adieu, love adieu"

Adieu, love, adieu, love love love love love

So Ophelia stepped out into the Great Divide
And decided she'd try to walk on water
Because Kings will kill Kings
And marry their Queens
But love always seems
To be lost on me
Oh, you're lost on me.

Project - Midnight Train to Georgia

The city ate her up and spit her back out 

And she waved her white flag at me, seething

She's leaving the left coast, limping and bleeding

She's leaving without ever really succeeding. 

She's wants to root near her roots

Make home near her home

She's leaving and she wants me to follow her down 

There's always another adventure to see

Another request being made of me

A time and a place she needs me to be

Chasing the girl that's chasing the dream

So here we go again

I'm buying in with money I would never spend 

Leaping without looking at the water's edge

We held a yard sale to sell off some stuff

We put our lives on the lawn 'til I'd had enough

These things still matter, so selling bits of us is tough

Time has taught me that this life is fleeting

And I'm happiest when I'm not kicking and screaming

So as the iPod on shuffle plays "Don't Stop Believing," I weep.