Howie Day's "Longest Night"

Howie Day – Longest Night

Listen Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIYoSBaivq8

Is it dark, where you are?
Can you count the stars where you are?
Do you feel like you are a thousand miles from home?

Are you lost, where you are?
Can you find your way when you're so far?
Do you fear, where you are?
A thousand nights alone

So here we are set into motion
We'll steal a car and crash in the ocean
You and I, caught in a fading light
On the longest night

It's enough, just to find love
It's the only thing to be sure of
So hard, to let go of
A thousand times or more
I was close to a fault line
Heaven knows, you showed up in time
Was it real?
Now I feel, like I'm never coming down

So here we are, set into motion
Steal a car, crash in the ocean
You and I, caught in a fading light
On the longest night

I recall when we were together
Even now it seems like forever
So alive caught in a fading light
On the longest night

Can we go too far to find, what is waiting here?
A little fall from grace
On the longest night

Did we go too far to find, what is waiting here?
We'll take a little time, to open again

Is it dark where you are?
Can you count the stars where you are?


Let’s be honest…Howie Day is the man! Who hasn’t caught themselves drooling over his good looks? Let alone getting lost in such amazing tracks as “Collide” and “She Says,” just 2 of my personal favorites! With the success of his first two albums, he “took some time off,” meaning of course, he spent some time in prison! While he has been arrested multiple times, he was locked away for a year due to harassing a flight crew whilst intoxicated. Yet Mr. Day is still a softie at heart, if his present songs are any indicator that is, even after his stint in the joint.

One may quickly judge this as just another love song, however after multiple listenings, I have found that there may be much more to it. The first stanza: “Is it dark, where you are/Can you count the stars where you are/Do you feel like you are a thousand miles from home?” seem to me as a testament to an, as of yet, undiscovered soul mate. You wonder just where exactly is She, and hope that She is looking for you as well. The next stanza follows the same suit, wondering if She is going through the same trials, tribulations, and loneliness as you are in your quest for love. The Longest Night in this song represents, for me at least, the nights one must go through, alone, in search for love, and the visions one has instead of sleeping are described in this song: crashing into the ocean, falling from grace, all with the one you love, who is ultimately yet to be found. With lines such as, “Heaven knows, you showed up in time” one might think Howie has found his love, but even he questions the reality of it, with the following line: “Was it real?” and ending the song with the same questioning, depressing lines it began with. This is not a song celebrating love. Rather, it is a song mourning for the lack of love in one's life, and pleading with one’s future love just to show up already. It’s a testament for all of us “close to a fault line” that hope that love may one day find us.