#music

THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

 

In the wide variety of concerts I’ve attended I’d be hard pressed to pick whose was greatest

because every show had a magic all its own…Willie Nelson’s was the latest.

 

I’ve been to concerts in houses, in schools, in stadiums…in museums surrounded by glass.

We saw Willie on a cool Florida evening under the stars while seated on a blanket in the grass

 

As Willie and his band played with Jupiter watching and listening from above…

I thought how music is a universal language…how it communicated through love.

 

At a concert when the music and the lyrics begin to fill the air

A change comes over anyone who happens to be there.

 

We live in a world divided…with evil forces tearing us apart

but when the band begins to play it’s only love that fills our hearts.

 

I’m not sure how it happens…how the music gets it done…

but when the notes are flowing…for a short while…we are not divided

we are one.

 

During the hours of the concert….everybody gets along

we listen…we stand…we dance together…we raise our voices and sing along.

 

Every now and then we turn to one another…just to share a nod…a word…a smile

glad we’re all together…that we chose to linger here a while.

 

My words could never capture the magic of these moments…but…you know what…I don’t care.

I just know life is so much more beautiful…so much more fun and so much more peaceful

when music fills the air.

 

So thank you Willie…and thank your band…for making a career

of creating music that speaks the language…

We all long so desperately to hear.

 
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WHERE OUR LOVE OF MUSIC COMES FROM

 

For many of us, I imagine, our love of music begins when in our mother’s womb we lie…

while floating in her warmth we hear her muffled lullaby.

 

A love of music that’s enhanced while cradled in her arms…when…

she gently rocks us back and forth and sings her lullaby again.

 

We begin to cherish music before we can even walk…from our nursery where we lie…

like a bird who learns to sing…before he learns to fly.

 

This beautiful memory of music we shall forever keep….

heard before we entered this world and every night before we fell asleep.

 

We’re happy to have learned this lesson early…to discover music everywhere….

in the oceans, in the trees, in the mountains…in the air.

 

Music becomes such a part of us that once we’ve spread our wings and flown

We find it easy to sing…to dance…and to make music of our own.

 

So…whenever nature plays her music…when we hear her symphony…her songs

not only do we enjoy listening…but we can play…and sing along.

 

And even as our tastes in music change the older that we grow…

we’re happy to be accompanied by music wherever we may go.

 

There is one song, however, for which our taste will never change…

It’s a song we heard right from our start….

The one song that from an early age has imprinted on our heart.

 

It’s the song that brings a smile to our face…

just before we finally say goodbye…

as we close our eyes and listen…

one last time….

to our mother’s lullaby.

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THANKFUL FOR NATURE'S MUSIC

 

May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life

that have, for us, thus far accrued… 

and to begin each day with a word of thanks…

and thoughts of gratitude.

 

Today I’m thankful for the music of nature

and for what my opinions worth

I believe it is the music of nature

that brings harmony to the Earth.

 
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OUR SONG

 

 

I heard a song this morning whose rhythm, melody and rhyme

immediately transported me back…to a different place and time.

 

It was years ago…riding in our car with Deborah…this memory is so strong…

when we decided this song, which we heard for the first time that day…

would forever be…our song.

 

I can’t explain the science…I’m not sure the reason why…

but this song always brings a smile to my face…and tears to Deborah’s eyes.

 

I guess we never know as each new day’s about to start….

which memories will be etched into our souls and leave footprints on our hearts. 

 

And it doesn’t end with one song…there are many more songs…

even songs in nature that transport me to the past….

Today was not the first time…and it definitely won’t be the last.

 

I’ll never comprehend how memory works…

how in the vast array of memories we’re making every day

some memories remain forever while other quickly fade away.

 

For now I’m happy knowing some memories…

realizing they play an important part

dwell forever in endless rooms somewhere deep within my heart.

 

And I’m glad one of those rooms is a concert hall

with songs and rhythms and melodies gathered there….

waiting to surprise me…when I hear music in the air.

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Thankful for music

 

May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life

that have, for us, thus far accrued…

and to begin each day with a word of thanks…

and thoughts of gratitude.

 

Today I’m thankful for music

and remain amazed at its multitude of varied and diverse roles…

How it can make us sing, dance, laugh and cry 

How it can illuminate our hearts 

and soothe our aching souls 

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ONLY NOW

 

Throughout my life I’ve had the privileged of listening…

without interference of confusion

to a diverse and varied and melodic musical suffusion

 

From a host of animals…dogs, cats, birds and dolphins

to the subtle flutter of a butterfly’s wings or the buzzing of the bees

From the waves of the ocean crashing on the shore…

to the whisper of the wind through the trees.

 

I’ve listened to a host of musical genres…from Bach to the Beatles

all who’s virtues I extol…

From country to folk to reggae to the blues….

everything from Jimmy buffet and Motown to rock and roll.

 

Time seems to stop when I’m listening to music

I can’t put my finger on the why or the how…

but when I’m tuned in to the music of life 

as the Buddhist say…

there…is only now.

 

Music has a way of permeating the body

of finding it’s way in…

It not only enters through our ears

but is absorbed in through our skin

 

It echoes from within us…then settles

never to depart…

For once it’s found its way inside…

it makes a home within our heart 

 

Yes, I’ve been blessed to love all types of music…

some of the tunes have faded away…

others often repeat…

and I imagine by listening go the music of life

is where my heart discovered its beat.

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THANKFUL FOR THE SOUNDS OF MUSIC

 

May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life

that have, for us, thus far accrued… 

and to begin each day with a word of thanks…

and thoughts of gratitude.

 

Today I’m thankful for the sounds of music:

 

In the heat of the summer sun

when the changing leaves of Autumn blow

as the flowers boom in springtime

in the chill of a winter snow

may you be blessed to hear the sounds of music

everywhere you may go

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FROM BACH TO THE BEATLES TO THE BIRDS

 

I had the most beautiful musical experience…and it all begins…

with a thousand candles and four musicians…one cello and three violins.

 

This string quartet sat on a stage surrounded by candlelight

and played music from Bach to the Beatles as day slowly surrendered to night.

 

In a small…intimate setting…before the evening was done…

they played everything from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3

to the Beatles Here Comes The Sun.

 

I marveled at how these four musicians…playing their instruments independently

found a way to blend their notes into a perfect harmony.

 

On my walk this morning as the stars hung in the sky…

glimmering like the flames of a thousand candle lights

four owls began to sing to one another…their swan song of the night.

 

I heard four distinct owl voices serenading me

four voices that mixed together into a perfect harmony.

 

I could not see the owls….even with the starlight their stage was much too dark…

I could not determine their shape or size… 

but just like the four musicians….they had me mesmerized.

 

It’s interesting how each quartet had their own style…

how beautifully their music blended….

from Bach to The Beatles where it began…

to the four owls…where it ended.

 

What makes these moments special…is time…

for once you experience the moment…you know…no matter where or when

never in your life will you experience that exact moment…ever again.

 

From four musicians who played strings without voices…

to four owls who sang in voices without the accompaniment of strings.

I kind of like never knowing what wonders are just around the corner…

what surprises the next moment will bring…

 
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MUSIC OF THE NIGHT

When you rise in the early morning long before the sun’s first light 

you have this wonderful opportunity to eavesdrop on the music of the night.

 

If you don’t hear the music at first…wait!…it won’t be long…

before the crickets, whom you never see, choose the rhythm of the song.

 

Once you catch the rhythm…just as your body begins to sway…

as if the maestro pointed in their direction…the woodwinds begin to play.

 

Their music enters from every direction as you walk through the neighborhood…

The melody changing depending on how the wind chooses to whistle through the woods.

 

The woodwinds can enter loudly on a gust…or softly on a gentle morning breeze…

either way….wherever you turn…there is music in the trees.

 

Just as you’re thinking to yourself…is there a better way to start the day…

the birds pick up their horns…and the brass begins to play.

 

If you’re lucky…and you listen closely…sometimes the music of the night…

offers a violin concerto…of the hummingbirds in flight.

 

Some walks take a little longer…you stop more often…close your eyes knowing you don’t have to see…all you have to do is listen to nature’s morning symphony.

 

Sadly…when the sun begins its rise…the symphony quickly fades away…

as the music of the night relinquishes the stage to the music of the day.

 

But another symphony begins tomorrow…if you rise before the sun’s first light…

another opportunity awaits…to eavesdrop on the music of the night.

 
 
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