Lying in the Hands of God - Dave Matthews Band

Me and DMB...I was never a big fan, they were okay. Sure I knew all the songs. I even had his solo album in my collection, which I liked a lot. But I never understood the draw...

Last year, the 31 year old I was dating, well, he was a huge DMB fan. As in he was in some Dave Matthews fan club, got first crack at tickets and had pre-ordered the new CD when we were together. The day it was supposed to arrive, he got home and saw that he had missed the delivery from the UPS guy. Argh! He missed it!

So we got into my Jeep and went hunting up and down the city side streets in search of the big brown UPS truck. And sure enough, we found it. He flagged him down and found that indeed, he was the RIGHT delivery guy. The UPS man dug in the back of his truck and pulled out the delivery of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Success!

There had to be a special listening party. I recall thinking...this is it...I am witnessing a full on fanatical DMB moment. And so we picked up burgers from Plan B and ate them as we drove up to the hills in Northwest Connecticut. It was nightfall by then. We were high and it was time to listen to the disk. We drove up and down all these twisty, mostly deserted roads and listened.

And it was "Lying in the Hands of God" that did it. I had my feet up on the dashboard of my Jeep. We were on a particularly hilly road. And I just gave into the song, forgot my inhibitions, the meandering roads and all my anxieties, the green leaves of the trees swaying their company in the night overhead...I was one with it all. It was amazingly intense and I cried...and it was peaceful, and I smiled all the while. When the song ended, he turned the CD player off and pulled over. And we turned to each other...awe...and I knew the experience was mutual.

And so then I finally understood.


"Why I am, still here dancing with the GrooGrux King.
We'll be drinking Big Whiskey while we dance and sing.
And when my story ends it's gonna end with him.
Heaven or hell I'm going there with the GrooGrux King."

Good night, LeRoi...