Our neighbor, C.C. DeVille, is a rock legend and was part of the famous 1980’s and 1990’s rock band, Poison. It’s not everyday that you can be walking your dogs in the neighborhood and see a rock legend and guitar virtuoso running down the street with 5lbs weights, scraggly hair, an old sweatsuit, and the biggest smile you ever did see.
Poison is probably most famous for their 1988 hit song “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn,” written by lead singer, Bret Michaels. As the song’s lyrics go:
Every rose has its thorn,
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad, song
Every rose has its thorn.
The lyrics were inspired by the heartache Michaels experienced when he discovered that his then girlfriend was cheating on him while he was out on the road touring. The lyrics are his attempt to relate the cold isolated feeling of a relationship ending despite not wanting it to be over. The symbolism in the title is that we all carry our own private pain despite rosy appearances.
I was 9 years old when this epic ballad hit the radio airwaves, and I remember it quite clearly. The song was then played at every middle school and high school dance over the next decade of my life (second in frequency only to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”). It’s slow and catchy, and you can’t help wanting to belt it out and share in Bret Michael’s pain. For an adolescent on the verge of a few crushing teenage breakups, this song was my rock therapy and an anthem for several of my broken hearts.
Bret Michaels was right, even the best lives (or seemingly the best from the outside) are rife with pain and sadness. Life spares no one heartache, misery, pain, loss, sadness, grief, or tragedy. We all experience it at some point. Our Facebook and Instagram picture-perfect society tries very hard to cover it up (because sorrow isn’t good for advertising), but it doesn’t take much to pull back the veil and see just how depressing life is across the globe right now. Divisiveness, crime, violence, war, famine, natural disasters, mass shootings, have all become too commonplace and are a threat to our very humanity. It’s a time of uncomfortable uncertainty no matter what side of the isle you find yourself on or what country you call home.
But then there is good ole C.C. DeVille plugging along down the road with that big ole smile like he knows a secret to life that no one else does. And if you call out to him to say hello, he’ll stop and look at you like you’re an old friend (even if you’re just meeting him for the first time), and give you a hearty “it’s a great day to be outside, isn’t it?!”
That pure joy, that optimism, that gratitude for the simple pleasures of life (a sunny day) drowns out the hate, evil, and darkness of the world just like one of his commanding guitar solos. In those moments, I am transfixed by his smile (and his very white teeth) and the fact that this Rock N’ Roll Hall of Famer would take the time to even acknowledge my existence, never mind God’s gift of another beautiful day alive.
Now C.C. DeVille did not have an easy go as a rock n’ roller, and wasn’t always “Mr. Smiley.” The debauchery of life on the road, the drug abuse, and the fights are all well documented. Indeed, he was even kicked out of the band in 1991 (everyone made up in 1996 for a reunion tour). However, C.C. learned what many people learn who hit rock bottom. It’s the same thing that the Phoenican merchant and later iconic Stoic philosopher, Zeno, learned centuries ago when he was shipwrecked and lost his family’s business and its entire fortune: When you are completely wiped out and you are at your absolute lowest point, then it’s easier for salvation to find you.
The reason that’s true is that when you are at your lowest point, you are truly exposed. You can’t hide behind the facade of fortune, fame, talent, or prosperity. Much like the Emperor in the Emperor’s New Clothes, you are standing naked to the world and become embarrassingly self-aware. That’s when you realize you actually don’t need all that other “stuff” in your life that you’ve been chasing. All you really need is to know your true self.
As Kelly Clarkson first sang back in 2011, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” The vulnerability of being at rock bottom brings that clarity as there is nowhere to go but up. It’s empowering to realize that even though the worst actually happened, you survived. You are still standing, and you’ve been given a second chance to live your best life being true to yourself and without the excesses and unnecessary complications that clouded your heart and mind and that led you to the depths of despair.
It’s then that you will be delivered and resurrected to be better than ever before. That moment of revelation is what Elton John tried to share in his 1983 hit, “I’m Still Standing” when he sang:
Don’t you know that I’m still standin’ better than I ever did?
Lookin’ like a true survivor, feelin’ like a little kid
And I’m still standin’ after all this time
Pickin’ up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
Like C.C. DeVille, despite all the bad in life, you too can overcome and soon be running along in your life with the biggest smile and a newfound appreciation for what truly matters.
Keep being amazing!
