If you’ve never seen The Wire, there’s a recovered addict character named Walon who doesn’t show up in a lot of episodes, but when he does, he’s a real life saint for the communityless junkies of Baltimore.
My wife and I are doing a rewatch, and this quote in Season 1 made me grab my phone to make a note for a post:
”Look, forgiveness from other folks is good, but ain’t nothin’ but words comin’ at you from outside. You want to kick this s***, you got to forgive your own self. Love yourself some, brother. And then drag your sorry ass to some meetings.”
Forgiveness from other folks is good, but ain’t nothin’ but words comin’ at you from outside.
You don’t have to have been an addict for that quote to land.
Steve Earle, who plays Walon on the show, has lived it. He watched his son, Justin Townes Earle, go through many of the same struggles. Back when they were filming this, JT was still around. In hindsight, Steve took Walon's advice, but JT couldn't quite figure it out.
Watching the scene and knowing what I know about the actor and his journey, I can’t help but cross the real life and fiction with the idea.
Personally? I know I can be hard on myself. I know I can carry weight on my shoulders that don’t necessarily belong on my shoulders but I’ll put it there anyway out of a sense of responsibility. It’s hard to let go of that, but I’m trying to be better at it.
You can chase love and all the other things externally but it’ll get you nowhere. Somebody else has to show you some light, to show you some grace, in a moment like what Walon shares with Bubbles. My version of it came from my (now) wife in my own darker moment some years back. All I know for sure is that it has to come from someone who has seen “it” too, whatever “it” may be, and can tell you the only way to heal it is from within.
Not everybody is going to figure it out. Either because they just can’t do it internally, or the universe has other plans for them before they get to. But the goal is to spread those words.
Call it gospel, call it good energy, call it whatever you want.
Be a Walon. A little help and a little hope goes a long way. This scene is such a beautiful moment.
Ps. It’s from a later season, but this Walon quote too, it rattles around in my head: “Shame is some tricky s***, ain’t it? Makes you feel like you want to change, and then beats you back down when you think you can’t.”
Let’s throw this clip in too:
And because it feels like I just have to - here’s a post about Steve covering JT’s music, and cutting straight to the music, here’s Steve Earle and The Dukes playing Justin Townes Earle’s classic, “Harlem River Blues”
