Music in the Air
When I retired, I thought I’d be playing golf, going to parties, and taking cruises. Instead I’ve been going to appointments, listening to doctors and taking medication! I’ve also needed to cut back on hiking and gardening which has left me with a lot of time on my hands. I still can write productively, do chores and go on short hikes; however, I have really needed a meaningful hobby to help pass the time.
Fortunately, my wife, Donna reminded me about the songs we had written many years ago. I’d forgotten about them for the most part, but Donna, not only has the printed lyrics, she kept melodies on cassette tapes we made. She has also been practicing some of them on her guitar. There are over forty songs that we have now begun to practice on a regular basis.
Our songs are mostly folksongs. Some are devotional and inspirational while others are romantic or have a societal theme. By practicing these songs for about five hours a week, we’re able to play them pretty well.
As we’ve been practicing our music, several things have become obvious. Although the lyrics and melodies are quite good, our singing is not. We sing slightly off key at times, so the first and last notes of some lines are sometimes “off.” Being disappointed about this, I still have attempted to figure out what we could do with all our songs. For prose and poetry, we have in the past simply submitted my work to various publishers and sometimes my writing would be accepted. With music however, often the song itself including lyrics, melody, and the voices are required. Our voices would basically spoil our chances. In addition, I have no idea how to go about the publishing process for music.
Then Donna, once again tried to remind me that I don’t always need “to do” something with everything I’m involved with. Some things can simply be done for the joy of doing them. So even though Donna has saved and cataloged our songs, and we now have practiced them, doesn’t mean we need to make money from them or receive recognition for them. She was right, of course. I only need to think about all the beautiful flowers, bushes, and statuary we have that we really only enjoy by ourselves.
Nevertheless, I haven’t finally come to terms with the idea of “music for music’s sake,” and I still try to figure out how use our songs for something. So perhaps in the future we’ll find someone to sing our songs for us. However, I still need to remember that it’s been my experience that making money or even receiving recognition for my work has been largely unsuccessful.
One thing I thought might be interesting is to share the lyrics of one of our songs in this newsletter. Perhaps, in the future, Donna and I may do a YouTube video, but because of our voice concerns we might ruin it. Fortunately, Donna is quite good playing the guitar, so the songs themselves are pretty good. Anyway, here is one of the songs we’ve been practicing over the last year. The song is called, “Hear the Eagle Cry,” is an inspirational song in which we sing the chorus together, but sing each individual line of the verse alternately, as a kind of call and response concept. Since we can’t harmonize, this style provides variety:
SONG: Hear the Eagle Cry
Chorus: Learn to sing
Spread your wings
Take a chance and fly
The skies above
Are filled with love
Hear the eagle cry
If your life has let you down,
And problems fill your day.
Stop yourself, then turn around,
And find a better way.
If people say you’ve met your match
And turn to shake their heads,
Gather up what strength you have,
And win the race instead.
When all your efforts are in vain
And every friend is gone,
Stand back up, and face the pain,
And you will soon be strong.
Whenever lovers disappear,
And turn your world to dust,
Remember dear, it’s only fear,
That makes you feel unloved.
Chorus
Even if your life is spent,
And death seems close at hand,
Think instead of love and laugh,
Give yourself a chance.
While doctors make predictions,
And all your hopes may fade,
Trust yourself and dive right in,
God will find a way.
God may test a thousand times,
Before your life is through,
Take it as a loving sign,
That God wants more from you.
God may take you to despair,
And leave you all alone,
But God will never leave you there,
He knows where you belong.
Chorus
Have a great weekend and thanks again of subscribing to my newsletter. You can always access some of my previous newsletters from my website (click below). See you next week!
Quotes:
“Music gives the soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Plato
“Where words fail, music speaks.” Hans Christian Andersen
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Photo credit: mathew-schwartz-dJb4w5hy0OA-unsplash; personal photo
