This weekend we enjoyed milder than expected weather, but with it came a change in the flight pattern into DFW International Airport, bringing disruptive airplane traffic and its resultant noise to Loyd Park.

Over the course of Friday and Saturday nights, we watched part one of the revealing new documentary, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes.” The title takes its name from his 1983 song about his doomed relationship with model Elle Macpherson, whom he began dating soon after divorcing his first wife, Elizabeth. It was inspired by the Scottish ballad “Barbara Allen,” about a woman who denies a dying man’s love, only to die of grief soon after his untimely death.

“And So It Goes” — the song and the documentary — conveys deep sadness and vulnerability.

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I’ve held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you, soon, I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It’s just as well for all I’ve seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That’s if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

The phrase “and so it goes” was a favorite of Steve Humphrey, Jon’s former pastor and longtime friend. To Steve, it signified a sense of acceptance and resignation to the inevitable flow of life, particularly when faced with difficult or unfortunate circumstances. It was popularized by the author Kurt Vonnegut in his 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five, in which the character, Billy Pilgrim, repeats the phrase as a way of managing the reality of death. But it wasn’t a Vonnegut creation.

The French have long had a saying, c’est la vie, which can be translated into English as, “such is life.” The perpetually sunny singer and actress Doris Day voiced a similar sentiment in her 1955 hit “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).” The legendary CBS news anchorman Walter Cronkite signed off his nightly broadcasts by saying, “And that’s the way it is.”

Regardless of which cultural connection you prefer, the essence is the same: “and so it goes” is a sigh of resignation, of powerlessness over the forces of the universe. Despite challenge and loss, life continues with its ups and downs.

To employ a more vulgar contemporary expression, “sh*t happens.” But life goes on.

In other words, it’s out of our hands, we can’t change it, and so we must do our best to carry on.

Sounds a lot like where we find ourselves in our current political situation.