It’s the little things that catch you unaware that excite me. That it should be something from music should not be totally unexpected. I do love music. Plus, I have finally finished getting my favorite songs list completed (only six months in the making). I have also embarked on expanding my CD collection… trying to restore my selection from the “vinyl days” (I have just picked up the Rolling Stones Let It Bleed and Rod Stewart’s first solo album An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down).
So the music is in the air, if you know what I mean…
Of recent, my morning routine has me running for 7 miles or so and I have used the occasion to catch up on re-runs of Inside Actors Studio or something on the History Channel. Seven miles has never been easier to run…
I was initially disappointed this morning to see that Inside Actors Studio had been pre-empted by the Songwriter’s Music Awards. But then I got caught up in the proceedings: a combination of speeches (impressively short in length) and performances. Stevie Wonder was honored. Roberta Flack did a breathtaking version of Killing Me Softly (the guy who wrote the song was being honored… I forget his name). Neil Sedaka got a lifetime achievement award & he performed a song from his ample book.
But just short of the 2.5 mile pole, when my sweat is running freely, Don McLean came on, accepted his award, and then launched into American Pie.
No it didn’t make my “Best Songs List”. It had been off my “radar” for awhile. Maybe it had too much air play when it first was released. Maybe it seemed trite. Maybe I needed to hear it again, and maybe I needed to hear it performed by a man who is of my age, his voice more mellow, perhaps with not the same vigor; but sung with additional life’s experience to add texture and meaning.
So I was lucky this morning — got a surprise… I listened to some wonderful music, saw them performed beautifully & as I made two and half miles my tears got lost in the sweat that flowed down my cheeks… it was just me and my music.