Satellite Call by Sara Bareilles

A couple weeks back I wrote about William Stafford’s poem, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other,” and those lines that seem like such clear instructions:

the signals we give—yes or no, or maybe—

should be clear; the darkness around us is deep.

After writing about the poem, this song, “Satellite Call” by Sara Bareilles, came to mind. Itself a poem.

It seems to me as if in these lyrics Bareilles is following William Stafford’s instructions. Sending out a satellite call into and across the darkness:

You may find yourself in the dead of night
Lost somewhere out there in the great big beautiful sky
You are all just perfect little satellites
Spinning round and round this broken earthly life

This is so you’ll know the sound
Of someone who loves you from the ground
Tonight you’re not alone at all
This is me sending out my satellite call

I also think it’s just such a pretty song. The video here is a live version, her singing at the piano in Indianapolis. I’ve also included a link below to a video version with lyrics.

I love the idea of writing going out like a satellite call. So that we can become both receivers and senders.

If you could send out a satellite call what would you say?

And if you could receive one, what would you most like to hear?

The song is from her album, Blessed Unrest.

A video of the song with lyrics is here.

The piece about Stafford’s poem is here.