The Right Side of the Brain: Meet the Smiths

My brother, Brennan, or as I lovingly call him Ren-Ren, came home this weekend and we hadn’t seen him in a couple of months. He is a wanderer and we truly never know when the next time we will see him will be or where exactly he is during the in between time. On saturday I had bought him a train ticket from San Diego back up here. I have to chuckle when I get these phone calls because a week before he was happily in Santa Cruz. It sometimes drives me crazy but a lot of times I just laugh. "Oh, San Diego! Of course you are there!"

Brennan played a song on Sunday while my mom and I finished our dinner and sat there not wanting to let go of our rare visits all together as a family. The second my brother finished chewing, there was a guitar in his hand and without fail requested to play for us. He has one of the most sincerely caring hearts of anyone I know, and whether he knew it or not, the song was exactly what I wanted to hear. As always he said, “What do you want ladies?” I typically respond, “play one I will like,” as any little sister would, but this night I said, “Play whatever you feel like.” The lyrics were familiar but I had never questioned the artist more. They fit my brother perfectly and unexpectedly brought tears to my eyes. He sang:

I'm sitting in the railway station.
Got a ticket for my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand. And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
Ev'ry day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
And ev'ry stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.

Tonight I'll sing my songs again,
I'll play the game and pretend.
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Silently for me.



Maybe I loved it so much because I hope that these lyrics reflect how he feels. In addition to my musically talented brother, I also have an artistically talented mother. She probably will be mad that I put this up, but I don’t really care because I love it!

She drew this picture of Brennan and it may not be as incredible to you if you don’t know him, but it captures his genuine charm. I was amazed. With all of these familial gifts, you must all be wondering where my right side of the brain talent is and why I have been hiding it for so long. Well friends, see you on the dance floor.