Tiny Daggers

Tiny Daggers

Performed By INXS

Lyrics by

Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence

Ever stop to wonder

Should I question

Move a stone look under

Should I judge

There was a time my friend and I stood as equals. We walked a long and arduous road, fraught with peril, and relied upon each other for support, strength, and positivity in an environment strategically designed to crush our spirits. Callous disregard in the face of a dire prime directive was the goal and we strove to overcome the obstacles they lined up before us, defeat their challenges, and emerge whole and untainted. We thought we had.

How you have changed my friend

You're not the same my friend

Do you lose sleep at night

Do you ever stop to think

Where it went wrong for you

Who turned your reds to blue

One of us “succeeded” and one of us “failed”. The curious part though, is that each of us thought the other the winner and ourselves the loser. We pass each other in the lonely, early morning corridors when things are quiet and our eyes meet, each of us damaged, battered, and bruised by our experience, acknowledging the rift that has formed between us. We know it’s now there for a reason. It pardons each of us from being responsible to the other. The reason is clear to us both. Neither of us is brave enough nor foolish enough to bridge that chasm. 

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

It’s difficult to meet each other’s eyes. It’s difficult to acknowledge that one of us was forced to make a hard-hearted change in service to the cause. It’s difficult for the other to acknowledge their resentful change in response to it. We ask ourselves, “How could they?” We wonder, “How did they come to this?” We lament, “We were supposed to be in this together! We were going to change the world!” We uncomfortably smile and nod, moving away from each other as quickly as possible and each feeling the ache as the rift widens.

They say you're never lonely

They say you're with the best

But when they turn those lights out

I bet you spin and turn

And cry just like the rest

And cry just like a baby

Each of us is surrounded by like-minded colleagues. We no longer consider each other among them. Too many accusing glares have passed between us. Too many times have we allowed ourselves to think the worst of the other. We hear tell of the quiet whispers of workplace grapevine gossip that would pit our purposes contrary to one another’s. It widens the rift. Each and every time, the other feels it, the soul-shriveling possibility that the gossip might actually be true.

The internal questions haunt us. 

“Am I still fighting the good fight?”

“Are they?”

“Is it possible that, in opposition, we can both be doing so?”

“Is it possible that, in opposition, we’ve ensured neither of us is?”

“Are we enemies now?”

“Why?”

No need for desperation

No need for sweet revenge

Please try to remember

The door is always there

Don't you walk on by

The door is always there

Each of us consciously ignores the fact that we are a source of stress, discomfort, and at times pain for each other. We ignore all those traits we once valued most in each other, those traits that made us a success when we worked together. We replaced them with some demonized doppelganger we’ve constructed as a placeholder for each other in our hearts and minds. We find ourselves alone against the world with nowhere to turn. We’re each quite sure the other has no interest in helping.

Until we are. Until one of us needs it most.

All you want to do is kick it in

All you got to do is walk right in

Whenever one really needs it, the other comes through. Professionally we are now divided. Ideologically we are now opposed. Fundamentally we now see each other as part of the problem. But, when we have nowhere else to turn we refuse to let each other stand alone. We each might not like what the other has become. We might not like the people circumstances have forced us to be. We might not like to acknowledge that all of the above were choices that we made. 

But, we are reminded that once we dedicated ourselves to overcoming the obstacles they lined up before us, defeating their challenges, and emerging whole and untainted. Perhaps, in those moments, we have.

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Author's Note

I've written all my life, until COVID struck and I had all the time in the world to devote to it. Then, I barely wrote at all. I suppose writing has always been a way to work through inner turmoil and working remotely was a delightful experience for me and eliminated most of that. So, I was stagnating. But, recently I've been on a roll and my momentum is building. The prompts this week didn't really speak to me. But, music is a constant source of inspiration and I liked that about them. INXS is my favorite band of all time. Kick is a wonderful album and has provided hours of positive energy and strength. Tiny Daggers is an amazing song that I call back to whenever trying to make sense of interpersonal relationships gone awry. I tried to submit this without this added piece at the end but received an error message that it was not long enough. If it's off-putting, I apologize that you read through it. But, I rather liked how the above piece turned out and wanted to share it. I wanted to keep the energy flowing. Feedback is an important part of that. So thank you and again, I apologize for this contrivance.

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart

Who put those tiny daggers in your heart