Heart Is a Drum

Jonathan VanAntwerpen
1 min readSep 17, 2024

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Leaving Aspen a photo out the airplane window by Jonathan VanAntwerpen
Leaving Aspen | September 2024 | Photo: Jonathan VanAntwerpen

Free as a driving wheel
Circling around your iron will
See only what you feel
Keeps you turning when you’re standing still

You tried to run from trouble when it comes
You followed the drum, keeping time with everyone

High as the light of day
You’re falling down across your lost highway
Pain, does it hurt this way?
To come so far to find they’ve closed the gates

You’ve lost your tongue when you fall from the pendulum
Your heart is a drum keeping time with everyone

Everyone, if they drown from the undertow
I need to find someone to show me how to play it slow
Just let it go

Your eyes get stung by the rays of the sinking sun
You follow the drum, keeping time with everyone

Going beat, beat, beat, it’s beating me down
Beat, beat, beat, beat, it’s beating me down
Day after day, it’s turning around
’Til all my days are drowning out

Beck, “Heart is a Drum”

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Jonathan VanAntwerpen

Jonathan VanAntwerpen is a program director at the Henry Luce Foundation. Originally trained as a philosopher, he holds a Ph.D. in sociology from UC-Berkeley.