Otis Redding – “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”
On November 22, 1967 famed soul singer Otis Redding stepped into a bay at the Stax recording studio in Memphis, TN and produced the final recordings of his timeless hit “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” But you see, it wasn’t intended to be the final version. In fact, the song wasn’t even finished.
If you’re familiar with the song you’ll remember that at the end there is a brief part where Redding simply whistled in tune to the music just before the song’s fade out. It was unplanned and imperfect but He had not yet written those closing words, could not find them in the moment, and so he whistled to fill out the recording. He intended to return at a later date and add words in place of the whistling. However, on December 10, while out on tour, his charter plane crashed into Lake Monona just outside of Madison, Wisconsin killing him and six other passengers. He never got to finish his song.
But an amazing thing happened. That next January (1968) “(Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay” was released anyway and immediately shot to number one and lasted there for months. And that part at the end that was actually left undone? It has become iconic. Even if you don’t know the words to the song when it gets to that part most anybody can join in. No, he didn’t have to finish the recording with something he never intended to make the final cut, he just did.
Often in life we find ourselves “in the moment.” We’re in a situation for which we have not been able to plan, a time when we assume silence is the best way to respond. However, those are often the lost opportunities we later regret. No we may not know the perfect thing to say in the moment, but sometimes (just sometimes) saying something, as imperfect and unplanned as it may be, is better than saying nothing at all.
Folks are hurting. People are seeking direction. Friends and family need encouragement. Those who are hurting need to be picked up. In those moments we rarely know if we have just the right thing to say and sometimes assume that it would be best to not speak.
But sometimes our words don’t have to be well thought out. Sometimes they don’t need to be complex. Sometimes people just need to be able to hear us speak from the heart. They need to know that when they rejoice we rejoice, when they weep we weep (Romans 12:15). They need to know that we feel all of the same emotions they do (Romans 12:16).
No, we may not think we have just the right thing to say; it may be imperfect and unplanned. But in those moments just do!