On the Bright Side

"Signs, signs, everywhere are signs.  Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. "Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the signs?” This was one of my favorite songs growing up. As a very young girl it was just a catchy folk song on the radio. As a teenager, the rebellious lyrics appealed to me. In college it was an easy song to learn on the guitar and a fun sing-along during my I-wish-I-were-a-hippie-but-I-live-inthe-eighties days, when my friends and I would make road trips to Woodstock (astonished by, and a bit envious of, the candle vendors who attended the concert in 1969 and never left... but I digress). As an adult, I have altered my interpretation of the lyrics to fit with my enlightenment-in-progress self. Clearly individual freedom is at the core of this song. Signs like, “Anybody caught trespassing will be shot on sight,” cause the protagonist to jump right over that fence to confront such a hoarder of Mother Nature. But the signs, to the singer, are getting i...