The Best Song Ever Written...

...about having cancer.

SWIM by Jack's Mannequin



When I heard this song for the first time on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart it felt like someone had been in the hospital with me or sitting next to me in the chemo chair and writing down the very advice I needed to get through the ordeal.

That's pretty much the story. Jack's Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon is a survivor of ALL, a particularly nasty form of leukemia. Hell, what am I saying? They're all nasty.

Of course I downloaded it from iTunes immediately. But when I watched the video on YouTube I got another kick in the gut. One of the animated artworks shows a flock of origami cranes forming the word swim. I was instantly transported back to the hospital and the thousand origami cranes hanging around room made by my son Cooper.

I'm petitioning my Congresswoman to add a provision to the Healthcare Reform bill that requires this song to be piped into every cancer patient's room at night when all the visitors have gone home and you wake in the dark surround by strangers and beeping machines. Keep going. You're not alone.

In case you didn't catch all the words:

You gotta swim,
Swim for your life,
Swim for the music,
That saves you,
When you're not so sure you'll survive,
You gotta swim,
And swim when it hurts,
The whole world is watching,
You haven't come this far,
To fall off the earth,

The currents will pull you,
Away from your love,
Just keep your head above,

I found a tidal wave,
Begging to tear down the dawn,
Memories like bullets,
They fired at me from a gun,
Cracking the armor yeah,
I swim for brighter days,
Despite the absence of sun,
Choking on salt water,
I'm not giving in,
Swim,

You gotta swim,
For nights that won’t end,
Swim for your families,
Your lovers your sisters,
And brothers and friends,
Yeah, you gotta swim,
For wars without cause,
Swim for the lost politicians,
Who don't see their greed as a flaw,

The currents will pull us,
Away from our love,
Just keep your head above,

I found a tidal wave,
Begging to tear down the dawn,
Memories like bullets,
They fired at me from a gun,
Cracking the armor yeah,
I swim for brighter days,
Despite the absence of sun,
Choking on salt water,
I'm not giving in,
Well I'm not giving in,
Swim

You gotta swim,
Swim in the dark,
There's no shame in drifting,
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark,
Yeah you gotta swim,
Don't let yourself sink,
Just find the horizon,
I promise you it's not as far as you think,
The currents will drag us away from our love,

Just keep your head above,
Just keep your head above,
Swim,
Just keep your head above,
Swim,
Swim,
Just keep your head above,
Swim.

Absolutely Goddamned Right. Keep swimming.