Sometimes I don’t think we even realize how much music is in the background.
Today as I sit in this coffee shop, they are playing Christmas music. Like they have for days.
Walmart has been playing Christmas music since the day after Halloween. (Don’t they know Thanksgiving comes first? But then again, does anyone know any “Thanksgiving Carols?”)
Christmas is my favorite time of year; I just don’t want to be tired of it by the time it gets here.
Anywho….
This got me thinking about how much music punctuates our lives, whether or not we are paying attention.
About a year ago, I did something kind of fun for myself. I formed a “Life Soundtrack” playlist on my ipod. (I’d share it with you, but my ipod isn’t with me just now.) These were songs that I remember from marking moments and seasons in my life…what was playing on the radio when such-and-such was going on, and things like that.
Songs that would bring back a memory, something from my history.
So…do you have any choice picks from your “life soundtrack?”
How about this? In the comments today (if you’d care to participate)…tell me:
- Five songs that were playing at marking moments in your life;
- What one song would you say has been the most memorable or meaningful, and why.
I’ll chime in with my answer later today in the comments.
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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Three songs come to mind.. all associated with trials.
“Day by Day” ministered deeply to me before I knew the Lord.. it was on the radio when my first wife first went blind in 1972.. I cried evry time I heard it but really didn’t know why.
“In Christ Alone” played a lot on y walkman when my wife died in 1994.. it got me through some dark days.
Matt Redman’s “Blessed be Your Name” ministered to me after my second wife was diagnosed with MS in 2002.
I think that music has the ability to transcend pain and help us in ways that nothing else seemingly can.
Jeff,
What a fun post today! Thanks for posing this question! Let’s see…
5 Favorite Songs:
1. Lady in Red
2. Chariot’s of Fire
3. Pachebel’s Cannon in D
4. Amazing Grace
5. Come, Now is the Time
Most of these songs definitely have a good memory and story that goes with them. For the most part 1. Romantic, 2. Cross-Country victory
3-4. memory with my brother,
5. spiritual significance.
Like you, I also love Christmas songs.
Again, this was wonderful. I’m looking forward to hearing yours.
Blessings,
~Amy 🙂
Author of “Orphaned Into Belonging”
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=2551659
http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
Thanks for your blog – i have enjoyed and really been relating with you. There have been a number of songs that I have put on a seasonal Christmas album that I give to my family during the holidays. These albums always relate to the journey the Father has had me on for the past year.
– Paul McCartney – “Follow Me”
– Robbie Seay – “New Day”
– The Album Leaf – “Always for You”
– Ben Kweller – “Thirteen”
– Delirious “I was lost”
ok… I know that this doesn’t answer your question, but…
Thanksgiving Carols
Thanksgiving Carols volume II
-Alan
You asked:
But then again, does anyone know any “Thanksgiving Carols?”
Actually the song “Over the river and through the woods…” was a Thanksgiving song (the title of the poem from which the words were taken was “A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day”). The Christmas verses were added later.
KB,
Thanks for the heartfelt list. Those kinds of songs are gifts, aren't they?
Amy & Alex, thanks also for your contributions….
Okay, Alan & Steve…thanks for missing the point by highlighting my ignorance and informing me that there are, in fact, Thanksgiving carols. 🙂
Okay…my five:
1. "Mr. Bojangles" (by some guy I don't know)
I was three when I first heard this song on the radio; I know many have covered it, so I don't know who was singing it. I just know it has always stuck with me.
2. "You Put This Love In My Heart" (by Keith Green)
The first contemporary Christian song I ever heard (age 10)…made me sit up and take notice. Keith made the piano cool. 🙂
3. "The Way It Is" (by Bruce Hornsby and the Range)
First came on the radio during my freshman year of college. I couldn't listen enough. Made the piano cool AGAIN. 🙂
4. "The Living Years" (by Mike + The Mechanics)
I remember listening to this song while driving around, trying (in vain) to sell insurance for a living right when college was ending…and thinking about my strained relationship with my own father at the time. Very touching.
5. "If These Walls Could Speak" (by Amy Grant).
This doubles as the single most impacting song in my life soundtrack. I first heard it when we were going through a rocky period early in our marriage, and God somehow used both music and lyrics to trigger a deep repentance in me beyond even what the song was saying. It was the first time I was truly broken. I still can hardly hear it without weeping and remembering that marking moment.
Jeff,
I didn’t miss the point… I didn’t link to REAL Thanksgiving carols. Our family made up some carols because there were none. You might enjoy them… 🙂
-Alan
Alan,
LOL!
I’m glad I’m not the only one out here who thought Paul McCartney’s song “Follow Me” was spiritual!
Paul McCartney’s music features heavily in the Soundtrack of My Life ™. (Some smart radio programmer’s going to read this thread and come up with a radio format with that name.)
Maybe I’m Amazed: This, and the whole album it’s from, got me through a very low period when I was in college.
Goodnight Tonight: Paul’s foray into disco. In 1979, all my middle-school buds grooved to it; it is one of the few good memories of middle school! I used to have the 12-inch single of this with extra lyrics.
Band on the Run: My brother and I used to sing this together in the car when we were kids. The song made no sense to us, which only made it cooler.
Listen to What the Man Said: My mom put my brother and I in a summer day camp one week the summer this was a hit, and that camp was a blast, and this song, which seemed always to be on the radio while I was there, always reminds me of that good time.
1. Sweet Home Alabama – because it is home and fun to dance to
2. What I love about Sunday – because
3. Always on my Mind – Willie Nelson or ELVIS
makes me cry
4. The Best of My Love – Eagles
5. You better be good to me – Tina Turner
Does the list say something about who we are?
Man, this will date me.
1. Sanctuary – Daniel Amos
2. Truth Will Set You Free – Dion
3. I Believe In You – Dallas Holm
4. Breathless Wonderment – Barnabas
5. Ave Maria – Jim Nabors
6. Nearer My God To Thee – Tenn. Ernie Ford
7. This Disco – Steve Taylor
8. I know – Keith Green
9. He Is Strong – Mylon LeFever
10. Here I Am – Russ Taff
Tennessee Ernie Ford? Jim Nabors? Dude. You DID ask. 😉 And yeah, I know all about Jim Nabors. And Dion. Doesn’t change the fact. heh
And, how about a list of stuff that really defines me more recently:
1. Sanctuary – Daniel Amos
2. Truth Will Set You Free – Dion
3. I Believe In You – Dallas Holm
4. Creation Song – Daniel Ortega
5. Mercy As The Rain – Billy Crockett
6. He Covers Me – Steve Camp
7. If You Say – BeBe Winans
8. Holy, Holy, Holy – Keith Green
9. Be Thou My Vision – Maranatha
10. Lord of Eternity – Daniel Ortega
Mercy as the Rain as a song I will forever attribute to the memory of my “spiritual father”, who founded me in the faith, and spent countless hours enduring my knocks on his door at 3:00am – “Mitch, what does he mean, ‘let the dead bury their dead?'” and who committed suicide a few years ago. Rest in peace, my brother. “You have veiled your heart from view, but I have loved you better than you knew.”
Ooopsie! I mean Fernando Ortega. Not Daniel Ortega.
I guess THAT also dates me, eh? Holy Cow, what an oopsie to make!
1. The Times Are a Changing Bob Dylan, right before and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
2. Hungry CD/ Hambrienta in Spanish by Vineyard. Upon moving to Honduras, helped me learn Sopanish
3. Amazing Grace. I can play it on the piano for hours.
4. Penny Lane by the Beattles. This dates me, but it was a favorite tune of my childhood.
5. Elton John’s Rocket Man. Before I knew the Lord, I was very lonely like the guy in the song.