How many songs can you really sing along with?
I am one of those people that can’t remember what I had for
breakfast yesterday (likely because I didn’t eat it) but I know every world to
Neneh Cherry’s 1988 hit “Buffalo Stance”. Even the part at 2:18. Seriously. I'm that good.
For me, lyrics aren’t just about repetition or
memorization. They are
stories. They are private jokes
and personal dreams. They are
darkest memories and greatest aspirations. They are enormous tragedies and irreplaceable
gifts. And songwriters, from Eminem
to Taylor Swift, are the vehicles that transport us through and graciously
allow us to make those most powerful moments our own.
I am unsure whether it was my
early fascination with poetry (evident by my mother discovering fragments of
paper with poems on them between my childhood bed sheets) or my raw love of the written word, but something led me
to a magical place where a single lyric can transport me anywhere.
There are times when the excessively redundant playlists on
Sirus XM make me want to rip the speakers out of my car and toss them like any
girl with no arm strength would, but this hasn’t been one of those weeks.
While I guarantee that Passenger’s single “Let Her Go” has
brought many a listener to tears repeatedly, for a myriad of reasons, one
particular lyric leaves me inspired for hours.
Everything you touch
surely dies.
It’s true.
Whether a hand, a pet, a flower, a friendship, a bank account or a
dream, eventually… it dies.
So before it does, make sure you’ve done all you need to do.
And I’ll just leave it at that.
