Jim Adams asks us to share a song that ends an album since the last song can be the climax of the album or a taste of something they want to do in the future.

The song I have chosen is “I’m About to Come Alive” sung by the band Train and it is the final song on their album My Private Nation. The song was written by Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train), Scott Underwood (drummer for Train), James Stafford (lead guitar Train), Charles Colin (musician and songwriter), Robert Hotchkiss (musician and song writer), and Clint Bennett (music editor for films).

I think the song made an excellent closer for Train’s album, but it meant a lot to me personally, and I want to take a liberty here and explain why. The song is about a man that has at least one child by a woman, and the woman is contemplating leaving him because she is miserable. Apparently her family didn’t think he was good enough for her, but she did. They have been through hard times already and “helped each other up off the ground” and he knows he won’t make it without her. He may be going through a personal crisis or depression.

I was 45 when this album came out, and little did I know I was going through peri-menopause. I had terrible mood swings and would suddenly be angry and frustrated over the smallest things. I could see that something was wrong with me, but I didn’t know what it was. No one warned me about it or told me that my hormones could wreak such havoc on your life. My children wondered what happened to their mother and my husband wondered where his wife went! I ended up going through menopause at 46, and continued to experience problems. My doctors wouldn’t give me hormone replacement because my mother had a type of breast cancer exacerbated by HRT. So, when I heard this song, it was my anthem to my husband. Don’t give up on me, I’m going to get back to my real self, I’m going to come alive again. He never talked about leaving me, but it was a hard time in our marriage. Eventually, a family tragedy led me to take an anti-depressant that changed my world. It helped me cope with my sadness and also calmed my hormone-induced symptoms. Thankfully, he stuck around to see me come alive to myself and to him again.

I can hear you downstairs crying on the phone
Telling someone that I’m here but you still feel all alone
Maybe we were too young
Goodbye, I’ve gotta go
I can hear the baby waking up
Got to get back to the life I know
I should have never believed him
Maybe I should just leave him

[Chorus]
Maybe I’m not but you’re all I got left to believe in
Don’t give up on me
I’m about to come alive
And I know that it’s been hard
And it’s been a long time coming
Don’t give up on me
I’m about to come alive

No one thought I was good enough for you
Except for you
Don’t let them be right
After all that we’ve been through
‘Cause somewhere over that rainbow
There’s a place for me
A place with you

In every frame upon our wall
Lies a face that’s seen it all
Through ups and downs and then more downs
We helped each other off of the ground
No one knows what we’ve been through
Making it ain’t making it without you

The End