Why I Love Music – As Seen Through The Eyes of A 12 Year Old
Forgive the proud Mom in me, but I had to share this poem written by my twelve-year old son. This is what he came up with when asked what music meant to him. And it got me thinking about the power of songs and music in general.Music is the intangible. It’s magic how just hearing a song can transport us, change our attitudes, and inspire us. When I was in college in CA, I had to make the long drive cross-country from LA to NJ twice a year, with only my mix tapes as my soul companions. (I’m probably dating myself here, but please, folks tell me y’all remember mix tapes?)
The cool thing about driving in a car with the music up loud is that the music becomes the soundtrack to what is going on around you. Those lonely stretches of Colorado highways feel a whole lot more desolate when they’re accompanied by Emmylou singing From Boulder to Birmingham. And you can’t help but wonder what goes on in the small towns of Ohio and Pennsylvania when Springsteen is singing to you about My Hometown.
The first song on my new album is called Let the Music Deliver Me, and I wrote it while looking for a little calm in the hurricane that was (is) sometimes my everyday life. It’s my song about what music means to me. Music obviously means a lot to me. That’s why it is so fun to see my son discover what music means to him, and see him put it in words. And that’s why I love sharing his poem with you.
Music
Music is a passion of happiness, life and fun
It is the invisible friend for everyone
Always near you, it never fails,
To come through in times of need
And carrying on your wayward song
Music is a melody, like a bird
Always moving, and dashing around,
Every beautiful note.
Is like a rambunctious rollercoaster
That rockets ‘round the bend.
The rhythm of the instruments
Bobbing and weaving
Through the tunnels of love,
The roads of thunder,
The boulevards with broken dreams,
Because music is a crazy train
Flying off the rails like a hyper active Beatle
Never stopping
The singer speaks to me,
Like a crystal ball would to a fortuneteller
His Bulbous lips parting to annunciate every word
He tells me of his triumphs, and failures
But music is not just an awesome upbeat rhythm
It also has a softer side
That whispers in your ear
Telling you of the tragedies that it has experienced