“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true…” Well it’s already time for another Silly Saturday post! Where does the time go? Earlier this week I posted a beautiful new Adele song, When We Were Young. One of her earlier hits was a cover of Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love. That’s not silly, though! To make it silly, you have to watch Adele impersonate herself and freak out a bunch of Adele impersonators! This makes me laugh, but it’s also extremely touching. Enjoy! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
“Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.” The trees look like they’re made of crystal. After a bad ice storm with a fair bit of damage all around our yard, it was such a relief, albeit shortlived, to see the sun finally emerge late afternoon and shine its brilliant light all over. Such a metaphor for life, really. Life can pound down rain all over you, freeze you out, tear you limb from limb, but The Light will eventually still reach you. This song is always so comforting. I’ll play it for my trees. “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right.” With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiOr5WoAJgg (Unfortunately this video won’t embed, so click on the link above and watch it on YouTube, please! The video is blurry but it has the best audio out of the links available.)
“Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind, possessing and caressing me…” Having one of those “pools of sorrow” days. Major migraine, awful weather, terrible stuff in the news. Or is it terrible stuff in the news, awful weather, and major migraine. Macro vs micro. Definitely I know I’m not the only one hurting today so I’m sending healing blessings out my window and into the world today. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Just to pick up on yesterday’s final thought… letting it go is so much easier said than done, isn’t it? I definitely love “letting go” songs, and while it would be easy to channel my inner Disney Princess Elsa and “let it go” Frozen-style, I’d rather share this gorgeous ballad by British singer-songwriter James Bay. I can’t get over its heart-wrenching delicacy. “I used to recognize myself. It’s funny how reflections change when we’re becoming something else. I think it’s time to walk away. So come on, let it go, just let it be. Why don’t you be you and I’ll be me?” I’ll keep trying. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Do you ever find yourself thinking about something and wondering how the heck you started thinking about it? Especially some long ago thing you thought was over and done with? Or at least sufficiently buried? Well let me tell you, after a spiritual awakening or similarly life-changing event, nothing stays buried anymore. Which leads me back to my first question. How the heck do certain things just happen to come back up when they do? One possible reason is what’s happening astrologically. Well it’s full moon eve (what? that’s a thing, right?) and at 5am EST we’ll be under a full moon lunar eclipse. Astronomically that’s interesting, since it’s not that frequently occurring, but astrologically it’s interesting, too. I am not an expert in this area; I’m not skeptical about it, I just don’t fully understand how the astrological determinations are made. I sure love reading about them, though. Here is a great article from the Mystic Mamma website that gives some interpretation of the energy at play right here, right now. There is some fantastic advice deep in this article, useful to anyone regardless of zodiac sign or belief system. Right off the top we’re told this moon phase “…illuminates the shadows and reveals the energetic wounds in our hearts in our relationships to Self and Others. With gentle loving acceptance, it’s time to hold space for it all as we continue to choose love.” Which in this case could explain why some random memories are popping up for us NOW.
Music can be a memory-trigger for sure, but if you can use it as a tether instead, a safety tie into the event or worry or memory, that’s good. So if you’ve been feeling any old stuff surface leading up to this full moon, When We Were Young by Adele is a really good song to work on. “Let me photograph you in this light in case it is the last time that we might be exactly like we were.” My head is full of photographs of people and places of the past, but full moons are great times to let it go, ask for clarity, let it go, hold space for the past hurt AND the future peace, and let it go. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
“When people run in circles it’s a very, very mad world.” I love where I live, but there are some serious stories that need more airtime and government attention right now. The only acceptable outbreaks are those of love and social justice.
Last night, there was a live television event called The Passion: New Orleans. It was a contemporized telling of the last earthly days of Jesus, using the city as a stage, and modern music to augment the story, featuring some big popular music stars. Seal, as Pontius Pilate struggling over his decision to condemn Jesus to crucifixion, sang a cover of Tears for Fears’ Mad World. It’s quickly become one of my favourite covers of this song, though for the first time I can think of, I suggest ignoring the choir. Seal’s powerful voice doesn’t need any distraction.
I’ve always been struck by the line: “…the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.” Dying to me represents going home, back to wherever we’ve all come from in The Universe, back to a state of pure love, pure light, pure grace, and pure intentions. So if this comes to us in our dreams I believe they would indeed be some of the best dreams we ever had, and one way to cope with this mad world. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark.” Sometimes songs want to be heard so much they’ll pop up over and over again in your month, your week, and sometimes your day! That happened with this song for me today, in two completely unrelated and unexpected offerings. You’ll Never Walk Alone is a song I know well. I’ve taught it, coached it, accompanied it, and performed it at the wedding of one of my most treasured friends. Despite my dark days, I don’t think to listen to this uplifting message all that often. The Universe made sure I heard it live twice today, plus numerous times looking for the right video to share. I attended an opera/musical revue today, and it was beautifully sung in the second half of the show. Later tonight, it was part of a live television show. This is one of the best musical theatre songs to hear out of context. It’s from Carousel but if you didn’t know that it wouldn’t matter, the message holds strong. Here is Judy Garland’s version. Her voice is like rich copper; too fiery for brass, too burnished for gold. Her delivery is resolute and passionate. Chilling. Take these words to heart, they’re for you. For all of us. No matter how stormy it is, or afraid of the dark you may feel “…walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone.” And so it is. ♥ Thanks to Universe Radio for the reminder. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
For today’s Silly Saturday song post, it’s not so much the song that’s funny, it’s the video. I’ve watched this so many times, and it still makes me laugh! Breakout British star George Ezra’s video for Listen to the Man is interrupted by a special guest who stays and sings the whole time… none other than Sir Ian McKellen. Hope you have a giggle or two on this beautiful day! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Is there anything we long to feel more than loved? Today’s post is dedicated to my beloved and wonderful husband, my #1 (and probably only!) reader. “Like a song of love that clings to me… how the thought of you does things to me… never before has someone been more unforgettable…”
Not only is he wonderful and unforgettable, he makes me feel like I just might be kind of special, too, and I’m so grateful. “Unforgettable in every way and forevermore that’s how you’ll stay… that’s why darling, it’s incredible that someone so unforgettable thinks that I am unforgettable too.”
Always a joy to listen to the incomparable Nat King Cole singing this song. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Obviously today is St. Patrick’s Day. Not obviously, one of the most amazing kids in the world was born on this day eight years ago, and I had the surprise pleasure of being with his beautiful mom when her water broke and seeing so much joy fill her face as it all became real in that moment. This darling child has Jewish roots from Hungary, which is unexpectedly relevant to today’s piece. Also not obviously, one year ago today was the Irish Catholic funeral of another dear friend’s beloved father. I had the tremendous honour of singing during the service. Life…always up, always down, always everything in between. As a keeper of dates, this one’s an emotional stunner for me.
Coming or going, graduating, marrying, retiring, emerging fresh into the world or passing on into the next, these beautiful words of The Olde Irish Blessing should be gifted to everyone at some point in life. “May the road rise to meet you; may the wind be always at your back; the sunshine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
Denes Agay composed the beautiful version of the blessing that I was privileged to sing at the funeral service. Here is a recording of the choral version sung by the Sprague High School Choir. Not a famous choir, but this is lovely. Agay also included the phrase: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and give you peace.” Agay was a Jewish Hungarian composer who emigrated to the U.S. at the brink of WW2, but sadly his parents remained, and perished in the holocaust. How people carry on with life after such loss, including my own ancestors, I’ve yet to fully comprehend. Thank goodness for music that helps us. And this song is such a beautiful creation of melded culture: an Irish blessing in English text set to a melody by a Hungarian Jew, and often sung in Catholic/Christian settings. Music truly is the universal language. Insert deity of your choosing, and please accept this lovely blessing for yourself as you listen. We are all connected, in infinite, entangled ways, and it’s beautiful. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
