These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Music

Music is a big part of my life.  Like movies and novels, songs usually tell a story.  Words intrigue me and music allows words to flow in a very catchy way.

Some of those stories are worth telling and others aren't.  Milkshake by Kelis, for example, would be one of the stories I could have lived without hearing.  But one of my favorite songs is definitely a story that should be told every single day.

Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson is one of my favorite things. 

Man in the Mirror makes me want to get out there and change the world.  Whenever I hear this song, I get a little stir crazy and wish I was using my degree to make a difference instead of letting it sit idly on the back burner. 

It makes me wish these words were true: "I'm gonna make a change/For once in my life/It's gonna feel real good/Gonna make a difference/Gonna make it right."  Not to say that I'm not making a difference in small ways in my little corner of the world, but when I pursued my degree, I did it because I wanted to make a change in a lot of people's lives.  

When I listen to the different verses in the song--really truly listen--it always makes me stop and think about how lucky I am.  And how unfair it is that other people aren't as lucky.  It's a random act of fate--or if you're religious, an act of God or some other deity--what family we are born into.  When you are born into a family that is poor or prejudiced against or faces some other misfortune, it's no fault of your own.  But in our society, we blame you for it. 

My heart bleeds for the people in this world who don't have enough food to eat or a warm place to sleep or people who love them.  It makes me wish we lived in a world where people never had to worry about those things.  But as I said yesterday, I realize that the price for that may be a higher one than most people would be willing to pay.

It doesn't stop me from wishing though.

I love songs that make you think.  That talk about more than just easy surface stuff.  Not that every song needs to be soul-changing, but I always appreciate those that are.

I'll leave you with this last little bit of lyrical perfection.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror/I'm asking him to change his ways, yeah/No message could have been any clearer/If you wanna make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and then make the change/You gotta get it right, while you got the time/'Cause when you close your heart/Then you close your mind