Category: Musings

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A Song I Want Played At My Funeral

Day Twenty-Four – A Song I Want Played At My Funeral:

It started a few years ago … probably even longer. Come to think of it, Hubby &I probably started to have discussions about what song we’d want to have at our own funerals shortly after we had seen “Love, Actually” when Liam Neeson’s character plays “Bye Bye, Baby” by the Bay City Rollers at his recently-deceased wife’s funeral service.

When Hubby’s grandmother passed away in January of 2008, Hubby’s family had asked him to put together a slide show that they could take with them back to the Philippines, where his “Nanay” would finally placed at rest. But when you have a slide show, you must have accompanying music to go with the slide show, right? So Hubby & I had come up with a handful of songs to place on this DVD slide show: “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion was an obvious choice. We also threw in Boyz II Men’s “A Song For Mama” for good measure. (That song gets me every time!)

A few months after that project was completed, Hubby told me about a song that came up on digital music library. He had been missing his Nanay when Rob Thomas’ “Now Comes The Night” came on. It was a song, he said, that was perfect to play at a funeral.

A Hard Day ... Last quiet moment together as a family

Of course, I had to listen to the song right away … and when I did, I couldn’t help but think the same thing. Because, as sad as the song sounded, the lyrics were hopeful and uplifting.

In fact, it’s a song I can listen during the days when I miss my Dad the most. Because it reminds me that – even though he’s not physically here next to me – he’s still with me in spirit.

So this would be the song that I’d like to be played at my own funeral … I want those family and friends to feel comforted that I will still be with them, looking over them in the best way that I can.

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What is with this 30-day song challenge?

What was yesterday‘s song?

 

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A Song That I Listen To When I’m Sad

Day Twenty-Two – A Song That I Listen To When I’m Sad:

There’s something about music that can stir up the best and worst of emotions. Just like any INXS song can bring a smile to my face, so can another song drive me to tears.

I recently heard an episode of “Fresh Air” on NPR where Stephen Colbert talked about how he took voice lessons to help train for his one-time / one-performance role in Sondheim’s production of “The Company.”  Colbert, who graduated from Northwestern University with a Theater degree, said it was like having to retrain himself after all these years; exercising vocal cords and muscles that he hadn’t used in years. And while his vocal coach had taught him all the technical aspects of singing, he still hadn’t known how to sing with any “emotion.”

That is, until the day Colbert’s vocal coach told him to forget all he learned, to not worry so much about “breaking the rules” … he was told to sing “silly.”

And that’s when it clicked for Colbert. From that moment, he was able to use his voice – a voice that was meant for musical theater, according to Sondheim – and fill it with all the emotions that were required for his character.

There are certain recorded songs out there where you can “feel” the emotions behind the singer’s voice. Those are the songs that give you the goose bumps when you hear it … whether for the first time or the hundredth time.  Those are the songs that can make you cry; whether for joy or for sadness.

Those are the songs that can likely lift you up — even if it’s a sad song — out of the darkness.

James Blunt’s “Beautiful” does that to me. There’s something about his voice, matched with the lyrics to this song that speak to me … that make me even the slightest bit happier whenever I hear it.

Maybe it’s because Blunt talks about a chance encounter with a woman he will never know. Maybe it’s because it’s because he speaks of that moment with such reverence. But the way that Blunt sings his lyrics has a way of making me feel as if I could be that “angel” … that I could be that beautiful person who had caught some stranger’s eye and captured this stranger’s imagination.

Now realistically, I know that’s absolutely untrue. (Who would look twice at me?) But I think it’s the possibility that it could happen that captures my imagination … captures my smile long enough for the wave of sadness to dissipate.

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What is with this 30-day song challenge?

What was yesterday‘s song?

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A Song I Listen To When I’m Happy

Day Twenty-One – A Song I Listen To When I’m Happy:

I’m not sure where I was when I first heard the Black Eyed Peas’ song, “Where Is The Love?” In fact, I’m pretty sure I liked the song more for its addicting beats and catchy chorus more than I did for the actual lyrics of the song.

What got me listening to the song over and over (and over) again was on a trip to London, Ontario for my cousin’s wedding back in May of 2004. The only decent television station we could manage to get in our hotel room was Much Music (Canada’s version of MTV) and that Black Eyed Peas video must have been on high rotation for that weekend.

Regardless, it’s because of that weekend that I got a chance to listen closely to they lyrics for the entire song. And every time I heard it, I could feel the “hippie chick” in me growing stronger; the high-school and college activist who wanted to make a change. Who thought she could make a change.

Not that I don’t think I could make a change today … Obviously writing and speaking up about infertility and living child-free as a first-generation Asian American (where infertility is a “taboo” topic) is one way that I can make a change  …

But hearing the Black Eyed Peas singing exactly what I had always thought in my head (and with a catchy dance beat, at that!)? That was refreshing; especially knowing that there are still people in the world that are trying to affect positive change.

So that’s why I listen to this song when I’m happy. It reminds me that there are times where you can feel down in the dumps … but if you at least try to change the situation you might be, you can take that step forward in becoming a happier person.

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What is with this 30-day song challenge?

What was yesterday‘s song?

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A Song From My Favorite Album

Day Nineteen – A Song From My Favorite Album:

There is no doubt in my mind that my favorite album of all times is INXS’ “Kick” … Although, I must admit that there was a period of time that I shunned away from it.

Blame it on youth, but I remember liking INXS for so many years before they had become commercially huge. So when “Kick” was released and gained so much popularity with the masses, I felt as if the rest of those people had no clue as who INXS was before they became Global Rockstars. And that’s when I stuck to listening to their old albums more than I did “Kick.”

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