High Hopes by Shed Seven

Photo by  Jason Weingardt on Unsplash

At a time like this we all need hope. In fact, at a time like anytime we all need hope. Hope is a foundational factor for wellbeing. Whilst this blog has previously covered the Pink Floyd track High Hopes, this week it will begin a three-week trilogy of songs which are also called High Hopes starting this week with the cult 90’s indie band Shed Seven.

The chorus of this indie classic speaks of living; In the roots that keep me complete. As shown in the picture above, I think there is something really significant and stabilising about basing our hopes on solid roots. For a tree to grow tall, it requires a good root system, partly to give it strength to withhold adverse weather, and partly to give it nourishment. Without this foundation the tree is in danger of falling or dying from malnourishment.

A similar metaphor works for human life too. For us to have hope with substance, it needs to be rooted. Hope without roots is nothing more than wishing, like we might wish for our problems to go away, or to win the lottery. But hope is something of more substance. Something grounded which can feed and sustain us through difficult times.

In our song one of the foundations of hope is seen in the root of relationship; All I need is your hands to steady my feet. Relationships help us keep our experiences and thoughts grounded in the reality of context. Good friends can challenge our views and let us know when our emotions are on a flight of fancy or our thinking and planning is really nothing more than daydreaming.

As a foundational root, our relationships can act to steady your soul by allowing us to test for real our ideas and thinking. When we share our thoughts and emotions with friends, they can help us to uncover the truth: All the spotlights you shone to help me, find needles in the hay, lets them lift away.

Yet as a root, relationships are always to be weighed. We need to ensure no rot has sunk into our relationships: You’ve sunken low sunken low. It’s another swift blow. A soured relationship can allow negativity to be fed and can be damaging. The song is realistic and requires us to be considered in the relationships we build to root our hope.

So, hope is a relationally fed quality, and as we’ll see next week, can help us not just to weight things up, but also create and sustain hopeful alternatives.

Need to reconnect with people but don’t know how? Why not consider booking an appointment with the author, Dr Dave Wood?

Taken from the album: