The singer is Nanci Griffith.  The song is “When I Dream”.  The sadness permeates all.  There is lonely with money and lonely without money.  This is with.  It looks good – being able to head to Paris on a whim, eat at the best restaurants, host elegant parties, be liked a thousand times on Facebook.  But it’s not good.  It’s empty … of life.

Nanci is not just dreaming of a soulmate, a romantic partner.  She longs for true human contact – with people young and old, male and female.  She longs for kindred spirits.  There is a connection possible between human beings that is profound.  There is no gap between.  It isn’t two folks trying to understand and empathize.  It’s two folks inside the same immense reality that easily escapes our best words.  Together in that, and each person still deeply him or herself.   More of me.  More of us.

Too often we narrow our view to see intimacy solely as the realm of sexual partners.  There is a world of contact beyond the lovers.  Such interlacing is available for anyone willing to come close to the other.  It is our birthright.

The words of Crystal Gayle lie below the singer.  They point to despair tinged with a touch of hope.  There is another destination.

I could have a mansion that is higher than the trees
I could have all the gifts I want and never ask please
I could fly to Paris, oh, it’s at my beck and call
Why do I go through life with nothing at all?

But when I dream, I dream of you
Maybe someday you will come true

I can be the singer or the clown in every room
I can even call someone to take me to the moon
I can put my makeup on and drive the men insane
I can go to bed alone and never know his name

But when I dream, I dream of you
Maybe someday you will come true