Day 14

Day 14...

I've enjoyed the past two days, remembering the people I've met over the years, both the normal and the crazies. Glad to be amongst the crazies, personally. If you're still reading along, I count you there as well. We're in good company.

I've also been thinking about music again. Finding a song to fit your mood isn't that difficult, but finding one that pulls at your heart for years can be. I've got a few that stuck with me, if we're friends on Facebook you've seen some of the favorites posted there.

I'm a Motown fan. The original stuff and the remakes. I think because you can sing along with most of them easily, having heard them so many times over the years. The standards like My Girl and Ain't No Mountain High Enough, everyone can groove to them. Come on, admit it: you've sang them into a hairbrush like in that movie Stepmom. The best love songs are from the Motown days. Marvin Gaye, Let's Get It On. Sexual Healing. Percy Sledge, When A Man Loves A Woman.

The Eagles are also a favorite. Not quite as huge a fan as my pal Joanie, but I know most of the words to most of the songs. I thought they wrote Wasted Time while spying on my life. Which is sad, it was a long time ago and things haven't changed too much. Except I'm working harder NOT to waste time. Peaceful Easy Feelin.... Seven Bridges Road.... good tunes for good times.

Country music is probably my go-to for meaningful songs. Travis Tritt, Can I Trust You With My Heart?, Best of Intentions, really serious lyrics around basic country rhythms. Some good old George Jones like He Stopped Loving Her Today will bring a tear to your eye, if you have even just a little Grinch-sized heart.

If I had to single out one song, just one, that if I could never hear again I'd be very sad about, it would probably be one that I'd never heard until last winter. My dear friend Jethro shared it with me, and I listen to it almost daily. I knew James Blount was "somebody", but this song just.... moves me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... Bonfire Heart .

Your mouth is a revolver
Firing bullets in the sky
Your love is like a soldier,
Loyal 'til you die
And I’ve been looking at the stars
For a long, long time
I’ve been putting out fires
All my life

Everybody wants a flame,
They don’t want to get burnt
And today is our turn

Days like these lead to...
Nights like this lead to
Love like ours.
You light the spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us—we don’t
Need that much, just someone that starts,
Starts the spark in our bonfire hearts


This world is getting colder.
Strangers passing by
No one offers you a shoulder.
No one looks you in the eye.
But I’ve been looking at you
For a long, long time
Just trying to break through,
Trying to make you mine

Everybody wants a flame,
They don’t want to get burnt
Well, today is our turn

Days like these lead to...
Nights like this lead to
Love like ours.
You light the spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us—we don’t
Need that much, just someone that starts,
Starts the spark in our bonfire hearts

Lesson Fourteen: Got music? It's something you can hold onto when you need a friend, miss a lover, want to cry and laugh while you're alone. Think about your "songs".... what's on your playlist, and why? Does your music make you happy, or melancholy? Do you choose your music to fit a mood, or does the music choose your mood for you?

716 to go...