To Each His Own

Pardon me, but I am going to wax nostalgic for a moment.

Growing up under my father's wing, some of my fondest memories stem from road trips between Boise and Salt Lake City, or sitting quietly, but thoughtfully, on my green leather family room couch... all the while listening to my father's music.

He would snap his fingers to Mary Chapin Carpenter's, "The Bug," or point at my mother while singing along to, "Shut Up and Kiss Me." He would ask our sibling quarreling to cease, and to listen to the song's words; he would offer his wise explanations throughout. Like Mark Knopfler's, "Boom, like that," a rendition describing Ray Croc and the beginning of the world capitalized hamburger joint, McDonald's.

He taught me to appreciate the lyrical meaning and purpose of a song. To find little nuggets of wisdom in between the drum beats and guitar plucks. Hence, my backbone of music lends itself from a different generation; an older generation. One more focused on musical thought and lyrical pensiveness.

Hence, despite a not so serenading sound of Bob Dylan, or Warren Zevon, or even Bruce Springsteen for that matter, the power behind the song is what drove them to success. And it is what drives me to love their music.

And it is what lights a fire inside me to find better ways of expressing myself, through song. I can sort my scattered thoughts by words already linked together, and feel at peace. Yes! That is what my mind and my heart feel, but I could not adequately express! It is satiating. Fulfilling.

Without any of my further ramblings, I leave you with one of my favorite songs.

In the words of Linda Ronstadt or Jackson Browne...
"For a Dancer"

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don't remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you'd always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found

I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can't sing
I can't help listening
And I can't help feeling stupid standing 'round
Crying as they ease you down
'Cause I know that you'd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(Right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(There's nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
(The world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you'll never know