Motivational speech and Explosions in the Sky

It’s not much of a philosophy, but what did you expect from a sign for a do-it-yourself car wash?

One of the better motivational speeches in a film can be found here in the 2004 high-school football one, Friday Night Lights. At half time, Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) preaches:

“It’s real simple. You got two more quarters, and that’s it. Now, most of you have been playing this game for ten years, and you’ve got two more quarters. And, after that, most of you will never play this game again for as long as you live. And y’all have known me for a while, and for a long time now you’ve been hearing me talk about being perfect. 

Well, I want you to understand something. To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you, and your relationship to yourself, and your family, and your friends. 

Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye, and know that you didn’t let them down, because you told them the truth. And that truth is that you did everything that you could - there wasn’t one more thing that you could have done. 

Can you live in that moment, as best you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart? With joy in your heart. If you can do that, gentlemen, then you’re perfect.

I want you to take a moment, and I want you to look each other in the eyes. I want you to put each other in your hearts forever, because forever is about to happen here - in just a few minutes. 

I want you to close your eyes and I want you to think about Boobie Miles, who is your brother. And he would die to be out there on that field with you tonight, and I want you to put that in your hearts. Boys, my heart is full. My heart’s full. Ivory? (Ivory leads them in reciting the Lord’s Prayer)”

Notice that the wistful song playing in the background is Your Hand in Mine by the band Explosions in the Sky. That song originally was on their 2003 album, The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, and you can listen to it here. Then in 2004 they did the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights. There are three different versions: a long one, a shorter one with strings (my favorite), and a brief (goodbye) one.

Recently Explosions in the Sky got some more unintended fame from another sign on a marquee. They will appear in Boise on September 11th. So, back in August, the Egyptian Theater downtown quite logically put their name up as:

“EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY CONCERT SEPT 11”

Press in New York City called it poorly timed. Actually the band picked that name way back in 1999. In fall 2001 they had already gotten hassled. Well, eveything is somewhere, and on September 11th they’re going to be right here (not in New York City). By the way, there also is a song called Memorial on their 2003 album.