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My Music

lyrics and life lessons

I’ve always loved Country music.

I can’t say it’s the only genre I’ve listened to (I did have that unfortunate foray into CCM in the early 2000’s, followed almost immediately by a pendulum swing into emo and classic rock), but it’s been my go-to since the early 90’s and my mom’s cassette tapes.

I like the storytelling. The talent. The little bit of patriotism and faith that peppers it. The fact that lyrics typically favor romance and beer over promiscuity and drugs …

I guess it’s also the subculture (or, at least, musical genre) to which I can best relate. Can’t say I like to/want to hunt animals for sport. And I’m not likely to ever own a tractor or anything bigger than a backyard hobby garden. But I do prefer wide, open spaces and beautiful trees over cement and city any day. I’ll always choose a backyard or boat hang over a bar or indoor amusement park. I’m not parked in front of the TV for college football like it’s religion, but I get it and respect it. ‘Cause here’s the thing - country music normalizes a simpler life. A pushing toward the stuff that really matters - family, friends, love and living life to the full … the lyrics proclaim those values, as well as the things, people, and processes that re-center us there.

That’s why I think I’ve been so welcoming of my oldest’s CONSTANT questions about the songs she hears. She is forever asking me some variation of “What’s [the singer] talking about?” …. and BECAUSE country music has a value system I can (mostly) align with, I’m able to have educational and life-giving conversations with my girl nearly each and every time a song wraps. It’s been the coolest. In developmentally appropriate ways, we’ve talked about working hard and responsibility and being treated like a queen by the kind of guy that would be worth her time and energy. We’ve talked about how God makes beautiful things and how hard stuff happens. We’ve talked about the meaning of perspective and how having a good attitude can change an experience. We’ve talked about alcoholism and cuss words. We’ve talked about what it means to be kind and grateful and generous, beautiful, confident and powerful. And the list goes on …

Curious: What are your kids learning from the music they’re hearing?

gettin' down to The Git Up

I don’t know what it is about choreographed dance. Line dance. Group dance. Songs like this. I don’t know what it is, but I come ALIVE with this stuff. I feel actually good. Great. Hopeful. Like life is so, so good.

People enjoying themselves. Laughing at themselves. Enjoying one another. Moving their bodies. Smiling and feeling sure and silly and free …

And I feel almost ridiculous saying all that. But, if I’m being honest, it’s always been a true thing for me. Most of my best memories are on Cowboys’ dance floor. I kid you not. I imagine it must be what it’s like for musicians when they sit down with others for a jam session. It feels like human connection and like something bigger and better than ourselves.. It feels like possibility. Life hums. Vibrates.

For me, it’s something approaching a concept of Heaven I could actually look forward to …

So, I’m gonna grab my baby girl and we’re gonna dance in the living room to this on the daily for a while. We’ve already been at it. She lights up. Which makes my heart leap. Maybe she’s got some of her momma in her. And, if it’s this part, I’m gonna help her enjoy it as much and as long as is possible.

Love.

we should be friends

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“I don’t know you well but I know that look
And I can judge the cover ‘cause I wrote the book
On losing sleep and gaining weight
On pain and shame and crazy trains
Well then, oh, we should be friends
Well then, oh, we can be friends”
— Miranda Lambert, "We Should Be Friends"

If you put your "comfy pants" on the moment you get home ...
If you believe leggings ARE pants ...
If makeup is a daily negotiable versus a necessity ...
If you can appreciate top shelf, but given the choice, you'll likely opt for the free beer ...
If you can throw down whiskey like it's water ...
If you love Jesus, but don't know how you feel about the current state of church ...
If you think you can be 35 and still feel 18 (an occasionally act accordingly) ...
If you treat your pets like they are human children ...
If you love God and still (unapologetically) cuss a little (or a lot) ...
If a good summer day needs a body of water, a bikini, a bunch of beer and fun friends ...
If you'll spend more money on travel experiences than house upkeep ...
If you're both headstrong and insecure in each and every moment of your day ...
If your daydreams take you simultaneously to the beach, the mountains, and back in time ...
If you dance in your living room when no one's home ...

Then, yes, we should be friends.*

(*I'm not excluding the rest of you, just giving a shout out to like/life-minded)

 

 

my music: "may we all"

I'm a friggin' emotional trainwreck lately, so it's no surprise this video got me crying. Already loved the song.

my music: "shake it off" by taylor swift

I did not want to like this song. It's Taylor Swift not even trying to remain at least a little bit country. And I kind of hate when country artists become crossover artists. But, halfway through my first listen, I'm a total fan of this POP song.

It's perfect for an impromptu living room dance party when the world is beating on your door and trying it's darndest to get you down. So, go for it. Turn it on, turn it up and shake … shake the anxiety, the sadness, the disappointment, the self-doubt … shake it off. 

Trust me. You'll feel better. I did: (Hyperlapse of my living room solo dance party)

But I keep cruisin'
Can't stop, won't stop grooving
It's like I got this music
In my mind
Saying, "It's gonna be alright."

And if you're a little more old school, this one's for you (courtesy of my awesome Mr.):

my music: "river bank" by brad paisley

Guess who FINALLY gets to see this guy in concert next month? ME! So psyched. Want in? Section 16 at the Tampa amphitheater on the 15th! #bucketlist 

my music: "the heart" by needtobreathe

I'm obsessed with this song. Can't wait to make it a lifestyle video soundtrack. For realz.

Ain't no gift like the present tense
Ain't no love like an old romance
Got'sta make hay when the sun is shinin'
Can't waste time when it comes time to dance …

Long live the heart, 
Long live the soul
That knows what it wants
That piece you can find
That part is the whole —
It never lets go …

my music: "we are tonight" by billy currington

I've got this one on repeat tonight:

"The night's still young, never gonna get old
Livin' for today like there's no tomorrow
Follow the grooves, the tires in the grass
Stayin' on the gas like we're never comin' back ...

It's a Friday night, it's a small town girl
Everything is right and we rule the world
Two twelve's in the truck back, beating
A bunch of rock stars on a riverbank singing: 'whoa, whoa, everything, whoa, whoa
Everything we wanna be — We are, we are, we are tonight'"

----

County music appeals to me for a lot of reasons. Recently, I realized that a major pull is how effortlessly a little bit of twang seems to call forth the spirited youth in me. The invincible, innocent, awakening adolescent, the exploring twenty-something ... she isn't long gone when County is on ... in fact, I think she lives a little for the first time.

When I hear County music, I believe against the negative for awhile. I cherish what I've got for a bit. I think for a second (or the hour or two I can turn it up and drive or sit or dance in it) that there's still hope and a better way of doing this thing we call life ... And wrapped in the sound of a steel guitar and intrigued by an inspiring lyric, I believe for minute that what the songs are selling might actually be for me ... might actually come my way.

What's your favorite music stir up in you?