Castles and Sand

.Castles made of sand fall in the sea eventually.

This song by Jimi Hendrix was playing in the shop this morning while I waited for my Americano. I noticed it. I had several reactions.

First, it reminded me of high school. Some afternoons I would come home, put on the Hendrix double CD, and fall asleep. Castles Made of Sand was on that disc.

Second, the lyrics are sad. A woman throws her drunk husband out of the house. A young Indian boy, who spends his whole life dreaming of fighting in a battle, is killed in his sleep the night before his first fight. And at the end, a girl who is paralyzed wheels her chair to the edge of a cliff to commit suicide by rolling into the ocean—but then she sees a golden ship pass her way and jumps up.

Then it ends: Castles made of sand fall in the sea eventually.

I was stumped.

Have you ever felt caught between hope and despair in a song or story?