"Exitlude" by The Killers

Song: "Exitlude" by The Killers

Feeling: Welcome, acceptance, accepted, warmth

Description: Since I've heard it I've always liked the song "Exitlude" by the amazing band The Killers. I think the song has a war mood to it, the way they sing it, the rhythm, the way the chorus is sung and just in general the lyrics give off an aura of 'welcome' and 'warmth' which is what I wanted to write about in the story. Just what it feels like to be a part of something, welcome and accepted into something. So I tried to do that. :) 

Story: 

            I could still feel their good byes in the air. Their warm hugs still lingered on my body, their last words, if you listened hard enough, could still be heard echoing in the stars.

            “Take care out there Rory, not every one is as nice as us.” They had told me. They had been joking, of course but I knew there was some truth in those words. I could travel the world, search every corner of the planet and I don’t think I would have found people as nice as them, people that could make me feel accepted, welcome. People that could, if only for a moment, make me forget all that weighed down on me. All that made me tire and regret. People that could wash it all away with some bad joke. They were those people.

            And I was going to miss them. The guy with the tussled brown hair and flannel shirts who always had a bad joke to tell, the girl with the colored striped in her hair that burned food in the microwave, the guy with the leather jacket and serious face, the girl with the tattoo of a bird on her wrist. I would miss them. The guy with the pale blonde hair and confused expression, the one that looked at the ground constantly hoping to find the words he couldn’t say written on the pavement was going to miss them. I was going to miss them because in the short time I was with them I didn’t have to look for words, they were right there, I didn’t have to fill in the awkward gaps of silence because there were none, I didn’t have to live with the faults that threatened me down, because with them I forgot them. With them I didn’t have to hide them. I didn’t have to cover up the fact that I am not very good at talking, or the fact that I don’t have much social grace either. With them those things didn’t matter. They took me and the tag-along package that were my flaws, and they didn’t care.

            They showed me themselves, showed me their dreams and talked about their futures as if they were along head off but they were ready to dive straight into them as if they came riding on the brink of tomorrow. They fished out my own dreams out of me. They showed me themselves. Their favorite color, their favorite band, we argued over music taste, debated on which was the best movie. They listened to the small stuff like the fact that my favorite color is blue, not the pale blue, but the deep rich one that covers the night sky, the startling one that swims in the depths of the ocean. They cared. And I care about them. I now know that Zachary’s favorite book is the Calving and Hobbes collection because he grew up reading the strips on the Sunday newspaper. And that Mariah’s favorite movie is Up, from Disney Pixar because she loves the talking dog. And that Issac’s favorite band is Led Zepplin because he used to listen to them with his Father. I know that Delilah likes antique cameras and rainy city photographs. I know this because in the short time I was with them, I cared, and they cared about all the little tuff that made us ourselves.

            In the short time I knew them I felt welcome, I felt accepted. I felt that every time I opened my mouth to speak I didn’t have to shout my lungs out to have them listen, they did so without me shouting. I felt that they wanted me with them, I wasn’t the burden they had to be carrying around. For that short piece of time I felt as if I was a part of something, I wasn’t an extra piece, I felt accepted. I felt welcome.

            Their last good bye’s were said and they were echoed by the stars and moon:

            “We hope you enjoyed your stay,

            It’s good to have you with us,

            Even if it’s just for a day,

            We hope you enjoyed your stay,

            Outside the sun is shining,

            Seems like heaven ain’t far away.”