My brain works in strange ways. There are times in my life in which I have song lyrics swirling around in my head. In most instances they are a way for me to connect a song with what is going on in my world. Legendary songwriter and performer Dolly Parton stated that, “Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn't get some of that stuff out.”
Meanwhile Dave Grohl says something similar, but is able to tie it to our shared experience of fatherhood: “When you have kids, you see life through different eyes. You feel love more deeply and are maybe a little more compassionate. It's inevitable that that would make its way into your songwriting.”
Watching my sons either running for touchdowns in flag football games or trying to turn singles into double brings Cake’s song “The Distance” to mind: “He’s going the distance / He’s going for speed”. Or the next song on the virtual mix-tape: Florence + The Machine’s catchy “Dog Days Are Over”: “So you better run. Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father.” These tracks make their way into my head without even trying.
There are also times when my boys feel weighed down by their schoolwork and I do not have to dig too deep to come up with a classic from The Beatles. Paul McCartney’s vocals on “Getting Better” are still relevant today: "I used to get mad at my school / The teachers who taught me weren't cool / You're holding me down / Turning me round / Filling me up with your rules."
Dealing with the recent tragic events in my neighborhood, my mind races to Animal Years’ Mike McFadden belting out in his song ‘Meet Me’: “I hope you never feel the way I feel tonight” and then it directly transitions to Citizen Cope’s “The Healing Hands”: “’Cause the actions of a few / Have put a world in harm’s way”.
No one should have to feel the way my family did at the end of October living in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, but this has become life as we know it. Senseless tragedies, active shooter drills in my boys’ school, but also the constant search to be strong and remain positive.
Right now, it is wishful thinking in zip code 15217, but I remain optimistic when I hear Van Morrison sing: “And we'll walk down the avenue again / And we'll sing all the songs from way back when / And we'll walk down the avenue again and the healing has begun”.
Thanks for reading.
