the power of music in my life

It can cut deeply, into my very soul.... music.  Music that pulls memories to the surface.  Memories that are oh, so painful....  I was born this way... from a very young age, certain songs, touch the depths of my soul. Maybe I am what they call an "old" soul,..I mean I was born with it.  

I think I was 2 years old. The first time I remember a song reaching into me and making me feel ...melancholy is one word that might describe the feeling.  At the age of 2! It was on The Today Show, and I have never forgotten it...  I think that a woman sang the song, that autumn morning....

Try to Remember, Jerry Orbach 1962

I remember it wistfully. I made me very sad. I must have closed my heart, that day.... because I do not remember anything hurting me that way again, until I was much older.

Music should not hurt one's soul.  How do I know that? well, you see, my father loved television, and what he loved most of all was variety programs, and than meant a lot of music.  Music was a joyful thing in our home.  But only by way of the television or radio.  

When riding in the car, I was instructed to sing.  That was cool with me,... I knew a lot of songs, and, once I learned to read, I was given a songbook...Reader's Digest Family Songbook.... which, of course, I still possess....

A spiral bound book, containing 114 songs, most of which I knew.  I only needed to have the words in front of me and I was (still am) able to summon the tune to my mind.  Thus was my father entertained on automobile trips.

Now, the majority of my life songs have only made me happy. Even joyful.  I love music, beyond anything else. Almost beyond reason.

And I can name you the songs that hurt me the most,...and yet I have always gone back to those songs and listened to them again and again.... and then push them away again.  I sing right along, but then I have to protect my psyche from that hurt.  You probably know some of the songs.... 

Time In A Bottle  ......  Alone Again, Naturally , which, oddly has a rather upbeat tune....

  Think of Laura , which was used on General Hospital when Laura "died", and this had me crying on freezing cold winter days that year. It still brings a tear to my eye, not because of a soap opera, but because it is a touching and moving memorial.

There I will end my list because, frankly, I dont' really have a list of songs that hurt my soul, and I am not going to continue this exploration today.

Music has power to touch souls, to make us laugh, and to make us cry.... 

so,..I am going to close this by sharing links to the songs that currently amuse me....

It's Hard to Be Humble

Wildwood Weed

The Lincoln Park Pirates (beloved by Chicagoans)

Don't Worry, Be Happy (which amuses me because it annoys some folks)

and I have more songs that amuse me, on a long playlist on YouTube, titled "Just for Fun".