While pondering this question I realized the songs that get an emotional response from me are due to my Mom & Dad.
Brandy by Looking Glass was the first song I remember my mom liking. It was the point in my life that I realized that my Mom was a human being that had other interests besides me! She'll be 74 next month.
Anything by Jimmy Buffet sends me to missing my Dad. Not only do his songs define my Dad, he was one of my Dad's favs. He passed away 6 yrs ago this month.
On the negative end of the spectrum....Father of Mine by Everclear elicits disappointment in my own son who's 2 children we are raising. A shame because I really like Everclear.
6/2/12 - CHL Class
7/20/12 - Plastic in hand!
~Do it today! It might be illegal tomorrow. - author unknown~
I tell you, the one song I can NOT listen to anymore is James Taylor's "Cats in the Cradle". I missed a lot of seeing my kids grow up being gone on deployments and working long shifts in the USAF...and when I hear that song, it doesn't make me mad at myself (and I thought about this many times), but at James Taylor. Its like he just can't understand situations where parents have to be gone to give their kids a good life.
Another song that gets a deep emotional response from me is Rush, "Red Sector A". I guess its kind of like my own personal "Why We Fight".
Heartland Patriot wrote:I tell you, the one song I can NOT listen to anymore is James Taylor's "Cats in the Cradle". I missed a lot of seeing my kids grow up being gone on deployments and working long shifts in the USAF...and when I hear that song, it doesn't make me mad at myself (and I thought about this many times), but at James Taylor. Its like he just can't understand situations where parents have to be gone to give their kids a good life.
That's Harry Chapin, not James Taylor....great song...I don't see it as "chastizing" anyone else...just a bittersweet reflection on how fast life passes and how easy it is for relationships to get lost in the everday routines we all deal with. I don't know of a single father that hasn't looked back when his son was grown and wished that they had spent MORE time together as he was growing up...even if he was involved in all kinds of activities with him. Once that time is gone, you can't get it back and you wish you'd had more regardless. I'll second Conway Twitty's "That's My Job"...my dad always made me feel that he was there to take care of things no matter what & I've tried to make sure my son feels the same way. Another favorite is Sawyer Brown's "The Walk"...another reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons and the passing of time.
"I looked out under the sun and saw that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" Ecclesiastes 9:11
"The race may not always go to the swift or the battle to the strong, but that's the way the smart money bets" Damon Runyon
Heartland Patriot wrote:I tell you, the one song I can NOT listen to anymore is James Taylor's "Cats in the Cradle". I missed a lot of seeing my kids grow up being gone on deployments and working long shifts in the USAF...and when I hear that song, it doesn't make me mad at myself (and I thought about this many times), but at James Taylor. Its like he just can't understand situations where parents have to be gone to give their kids a good life.
That's Harry Chapin, not James Taylor....great song...I don't see it as "chastizing" anyone else...just a bittersweet reflection on how fast life passes and how easy it is for relationships to get lost in the everday routines we all deal with. I don't know of a single father that hasn't looked back when his son was grown and wished that they had spent MORE time together as he was growing up...even if he was involved in all kinds of activities with him. Once that time is gone, you can't get it back and you wish you'd had more regardless. I'll second Conway Twitty's "That's My Job"...my dad always made me feel that he was there to take care of things no matter what & I've tried to make sure my son feels the same way. Another favorite is Sawyer Brown's "The Walk"...another reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons and the passing of time.
Definitely see that one as a regret we all have no matter how much time we spend with our kiddos.
This parody of that song will make you forever replace the words to that song...
Heartland Patriot wrote:I tell you, the one song I can NOT listen to anymore is James Taylor's "Cats in the Cradle". I missed a lot of seeing my kids grow up being gone on deployments and working long shifts in the USAF...and when I hear that song, it doesn't make me mad at myself (and I thought about this many times), but at James Taylor. Its like he just can't understand situations where parents have to be gone to give their kids a good life.
That's Harry Chapin, not James Taylor....great song...I don't see it as "chastizing" anyone else...just a bittersweet reflection on how fast life passes and how easy it is for relationships to get lost in the everday routines we all deal with. I don't know of a single father that hasn't looked back when his son was grown and wished that they had spent MORE time together as he was growing up...even if he was involved in all kinds of activities with him. Once that time is gone, you can't get it back and you wish you'd had more regardless. I'll second Conway Twitty's "That's My Job"...my dad always made me feel that he was there to take care of things no matter what & I've tried to make sure my son feels the same way. Another favorite is Sawyer Brown's "The Walk"...another reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons and the passing of time.
I stand corrected on the singer of that song. James Taylor was the one with "I've seen fire and I've seen rain", right? And yes, time does pass by too quickly.
Heartland Patriot wrote:I stand corrected on the singer of that song. James Taylor was the one with "I've seen fire and I've seen rain", right? And yes, time does pass by too quickly.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" associates with my late wife.
As does "If He Walked into My Life"
And "More"
"Along Comes Mary" by The Association because that summer was - THAT summer and I dated, briefly, a girl named Mary.
"Amazing Grace"
"Do You Love Me? (Now That I Can Dance)", ""Land of 1000 Dances", "Dancing in the Streets" also from THAT summer, when as a teenager I participated in the inception of dirty dancing right where the movie took place.
"Black Velvet" by Robin Lee because my wife and I danced to it, it is OUR song.
"Blue Moon" by Helen Forrest, and by Nino Temple and April Stevens, for different reasons.
I first heard this performed by a brass quintet from Paris, France at the University of North Texas. They split up, each going to a far corner of the auditorium. There, they each lit two candles on their music stands and all of the house lights were shut off. Their idea was to simulate the "stereo" that was produced in the early churches. It was definitely an inspiring moment. I was so moved by the piece that I just had to find the music for it.
It turns out, the composer is a lie. It has been attributed to Giulio Caccini (8 October 1551 – 10 December 1618). It has been recorded worldwide as Caccini's work by many famous artists. I recognized immediately that no composer from Florence in the 1500s would have used the complex cords that this piece contains. It was really written by Vladimir Vavilov around 1970. He was famous for attributing his own works to ancient composers, whether or not the style of the particular work fit the ancient composer's style.
I found the music and was given the privilege of playing it in our church on alto sax with organ accompaniment during the Lenten season. Unfortunately, I had to continue the deception. The title Ave Maria is translated from the Latin as Hail Mary. Ours is not a Catholic church and some members might be offended by playing an Ave Maria. So we simply didn’t list any information about it in the bulletin.
The power of this music should come from the solid, pulsing accompaniment. The piano in the first link is the only version on YouTube that really captures this. More instruments add to the inspirational element as in this second link. Unfortunately, it looses that solid pulsing accompaniment that this piece needs.
[youtube][/youtube]
OK, I blew it, when I type a long post, I usually do it offline and then copy and paste, and somewhere in the transition I dropped "Blue Moon" by Julie London (not a classic, but a good rendition with deeper meaning) and "Deep Purple"
The sentence should have read: ""Blue Moon" by Julie London; and "Deep Purple" by Helen Forrest, and by Nino Temple and April Stevens, for different reasons.
My late wife was a classically trained pianist and just hated the Marcells' version of Blue Moon and could tolerate the Nino Temple Deep Purple because of a couple of interesting musical things. I have been working on the harmonica part for years.
74novaman wrote:Thought this might be a fun off topic thread....
What song hits you every time you hear it and provokes an emotional response from you?
For mine, you might need a little background. My family is a farming family. I had relatives go through the Depression/Dust Bowl era in the Panhandle, and heard a lot of their stories growing up. I also spent my childhood working on my fathers or grandfathers farms, so everything about this song speaks to some experience I have or family story I have heard.
[youtube][/youtube]
The lines that really get me:
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
This is one of those songs that reminds me of how hard my great grandparents, grandparents and parents worked to make it. It reminds me that no obstacle I face can really compare to the conditions they dealt with growing up and the incredible faith and patience it takes to farm for a living. It's a very bittersweet song for me, but one that I always love hearing.
So what song really speaks to y'all?
Edit: Took me a minute to figure out the youtube embedding. Got it fixed now.
Just saw your post and recognized Nanci Griffith in the video shot. I like just about anything she does. We used to go see her at Anderson Fair and a few of the old Houston venues that had a lot of great singer/songwriters. I hail all the way back to Sand Mountain, The Jester, la Maison de Cafe, Old Quarter, Liberty Hall, etc. (the Old Quarter has been revived in Galveston). I have a lot of music and songs that I relate to in some manner, but "My Father's Fiddle" by Dave Loggins always gets to me. Reminds me of my grandmother taking me to gospel singing at various places and hearing her stories of the get togethers like those in the song as she grew up in the country.
KAHR PM40/Hoffner IWB and S&W Mod 60/ Galco IWB
NRA Endowment Member, TSRA Life Member,100 Club Life Member,TFC Member
My Faith, My Gun and My Constitution: I cling to all three!
She'll be 74 next month.
Also a great song.
