I’ve Got the Urge for Going

When the going gets tough, I can’t escape the feeling of wanting to take off to Europe for several months. Even though I know my problems will not magically disappear, I constantly yearn for reprieve. Southern Europe, for some reason seems to be the place I yearn to go.

Joni Mitchell’s song, Urge for Going, plays in my head. 

I get the urge for going but I never seem to go…

I moved to Chatham three years ago. Before I bought my house, I dreamt of going to Europe and spending time in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It never happened. I made other choices and stayed in Chatham.

I love my house but it’s been a bit lonely and business opportunities are few here, so when my son called to tell me he was taking a job in the town we used to live in, I proposed we move in together and share expenses. 

Within days I sold my house for a ridiculously high price and started making plans to move back to civilization. It’s a difficult time to rent or buy anything. The market is extremely tight, so here I am facing the possibility of having no place to live. Same shit, different pile. 

That’s just what happened to me three years ago, so now I want to go to Spain and wait out the rest of the pandemic in a place that’s at least living life. It’s probably the worst time ever to travel, but I’ve got the urge for going. 

I want people in my life. 

I want vibrant, loving people surrounding me. 

I want to see the world and drink in all of life. 

I want to sing and dance and drink cold beer on a hot patio.

I want laughter and the energy of joyful people around me.

I want to absorb the warm air on a sunny day.

I want to put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea.

I want to see the blue skies, trees and mountains of a different land.

I want to drink in the beauty of the architecture, the paintings and history of somewhere new.

After all that, I want to come back to my own country (this beautiful, blessed land) and settle into a life of peace and tranquility because I satisfied my urge for going.

Urge For Going, by Joni Mitchell

I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
And all trees are shivering in a naked row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown

Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in
I had me a man in summertime
He had summer-colored skin
And not another girl in town
My darling's heart could win
But when the leaves fell on the ground
And bully winds came around pushed them face down in the snow
He got the urge for going and I had to let him go
He got the urge for going
When the meadow grass was turning brown

And summertime was falling down and winter was closing in
Now the warriors of winter they gave a cold triumphant shout
And all that stays is dying and all that lives is getting out
See the geese in chevron flight flapping and racing on before the snow
They've got the urge for going and they've got the wings so they can go
They get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown

Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in
I'll ply the fire with kindling and pull the blankets to my chin
I'll lock the vagrant winter out and I'll bolt my wandering in
I'd like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so
But she's got the urge for going so I guess she'll have to go
She get the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
And all her empires are falling down
And winter's closing in
And I get the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is falling down

Source: LyricFind