A Faithful Heart Makes Wishes Come True

ISSUE #18

My favorite podcast of all time has been soaring chronologically through the films of Ang Lee, which prompted me to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the first time this week. I loved it — I've loved every one of his movies so far. I loved it for the way it used breathtaking martial arts to talk about love unfulfilled, and also for the way Michelle Yeoh can elicit goosebumps using only her eyes (go see Crazy Rich Asians this week if you want to see her do it on the biggest screen possible).

The film has an extended flashback in the middle, in which Jen Yu traverses the Gobi desert with her star-crossed lover, the bandit Lo. When pressures from her family force them to part, Lo promises they can be together in the end, if they believe in it:

"We have a legend. Anyone who dares to jump from the mountain, God will grant his wish. Long ago, a young man's parents were ill, so he jumped. He didn't die. He wasn't even hurt. He floated away, far away, never to return. He knew his wish had come true. If you believe, it will happen. The elders say, 'A faithful heart makes wishes come true.'"

These are songs to play as you jump from the mountain. It's always scary to throw yourself into the unfamiliar — it's hard to trust that you can fly — but I watch others take the leap all the time, and right now I can name a dozen who are better off for it. I've done if a few times myself, and today I have the crucial support of someone I love because of it. These songs can give you a gentle push.

Of course, there was the news about Aretha yesterday, so the playlist is also reckoning with loss: of Marvin, of Ella, of Prince. It's reckoning with the cosmos, too: in reference to stars, to skies, to heaven. It was Madonna's birthday, so she gets a spot, and Mitski has a new album, which I have yet to listen to in full, but I know that the past two years have done little to help me brace myself for it. It will probably devastate me. It might be my favorite of the year.

Finally, my friend Zach put out a new album today, and I really love it in earnest. It's vulnerable in a way that's striking and brave. He's jumped from the mountain — let's show him some love as he's flying away.