Oracles

I have a friend and former co-worker I haven't seen in years. Back in the day when we'd get together for work gatherings, we'd bust out a guitar or two and wail far into the night. My friend was a veritable jukebox capable of playing anything from revolutionary anthems to "Hang on, Sloopy."

He'd spent several years as a political prisoner in the Philippines and I think that's where he expanded his playlist.

I loved it when sometimes after playing a song, he'd get this faraway look in his eyes and make some brief oracular statement about the inner meaning of the song. If memory serves, after "Space Oddity," he paused and said "It's about alienation."

Once, after tearing through "The Man Who Sold the World," he mused "It's about the triumph of evil." I remember almost getting a chill when he said that.

For some reason, his oracles are on my mind going into 2016. I have a feeling 2016 is going to have more than it's share of alienation and the triumph of evil, in West Virginia and around the world.

I wish I'm wrong about that.