Listen to the Music

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is hosting a series on CNN called "Soundtracks". The effort is to shine a light on music and song lyrics and how they provide a backdrop for our lives. From the gut-wrenching angst of the sixties through the disco scene of the seventies to today's battle of bubble gum pop and urban gangsta rap. Music has defined generations.

For me, it has been much more personal. I have long been a fan of song lyrics. The ability to convey thought and emotion concisely is an incredible skill. Sending a message woven into a melody implants both in my brain in a way the written word never could. Poetry in perpetual motion.

Music has provided the soundtrack of my life. From the ABC's, drilled into my head in a preschool jingle to history captured in the rap lyrics of the Hamilton score, certain things have become permanently imbedded and remain subject to recall at a moment's notice. I find the emotional rollercoasters of my life have a symphony all their own.

My first broken heart was scored by Hall and Oates, "She's Gone". The last was lyricized by CSN&Y in their classic "Carry On", which I heard for the first time after listening to it for nearly forty years. From "getting up in the morning and looking in the mirror" to discovering "Carry On" was a battle cry; "A new day, a new way, and new eyes to see the dawn." 

One day many years ago I sat in the driveway listening to "Danny's Song" by Kenny Loggins, when I shut the car off and went inside, I found I was to be the "lucky one". I was the one who was going to have a son. Twenty months later that boy took his first steps to Dire Straits "Walk of Life". I hear those songs and I am in those moments.

Now, at age 96, "The Leader of the Band" is tired. His eyes are growing old. There will never be a day I hear this song and don't think of my Dad. In the meantime, I have become the leader of my own band. I can only try to live a life worthy of imitation.

I know I am not alone. Everyone has worked on "Night Moves". Everyone in "My Generation" who is old is glad they didn't die before they got that way. We've all enjoyed "watching the wheels go 'round and 'round". We have all, at some point, wistfully wished we could "hop on that bike and roll clean out of sight"

Let the soundtrack of your life wash over you every chance you get. Relive the pain and the joy and the triumph. As the song goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

If you see John at the bar, say hello for me. He is a friend of mine.