I Believe
When I was young and full of grace
And spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit I will not tell
You’re on your honor not to tellI believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there’s the key
Your adventure for today what do you do
Between the horns of the day?I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe inWhen I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honorTrust in your calling, make sure your calling’s true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule, golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines changeI believe my humor’s wearing thin
And change is what I believe inI believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe inWhen I was young and full of grace
And spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honorI believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the keyI believe my humor’s wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shiftingI believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in
Michael Stipe
I was thinking about Ted Lasso, the hit show on AppleTV+, again today. Truthfully, I’m still befuddled by how much it affected me. It’s truly a magnificent show built on an empathetic core, but also a masterclass on leadership. I was already desperate for more as the first season wound down — and luckily, at least two more seasons are coming.
But what does Ted Lasso have to do with this song? Aside from “believing” as a central theme throughout the show — beginning with Ted’s naive hand-drawn sign that he puts up in the team’s locker room, maybe not much. At the same time, there’s something in these lyrics that speak to our current moment of introspection and social and political change. Believing is something we all need.