Write about the three most important songs in your life — what do they mean to you?
That’s today’s assignment. As a music-lover this should be easy-breezy right?
Bet you thought I would say it was difficult!
But actually, it was pretty easy for me.
I have eclectic taste in music. I enjoy the Disney channel on Pandora as much as I love Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, Broadway tunes, Skrillex, Aerosmith, Rachmaninov and Pavarotti.
But I still know my three.
1. Edvard Grieg’s Wedding at Troldhaugen
Back when I was a little one, my mother played this while I played with my toys. Watching her hands fly across the keyboard was a true delight. When I was nine we went to Norway, and I got to see Grieg’s studio overlooking the fjord. It tugged at the very root of my Nordic ancestral soul. When I was in seventh or eighth grade (I can’t remember which), I was able to play this in a school performance, and my best friend played it at my wedding. She loved it so much, she had it at her wedding, too.
2. Little Brown Church in the Vale by William Pitts
This one’s a bit hokey, but that’s part of why I love it so much. My in-law’s have some cabins at a little tiny church campground. My mother-in-law has been going there for over 80 years. For ten days every summer, a group of families gather for worship, singing, games and general relaxation.
Our tabernacle is a building in the center of the campgrounds, and the sides of the building are propped open when the weather is nice. At night when we gather, we are generally tired from doing crafts and classes in the morning, walking through the woods and swimming at Little Falls where we also hunt for crawfish. We sing together, and often wind up belting out a hearty off-key rendition of this song. Although tired, we leave this place to have ice cream and yak with our friends.
It ain’t fancy, but that little tabernacle in the camp is a haven for my family and me.
3. And finally…Brokedown Palace by the Grateful Dead
This will hopefully be played a my funeral someday.
Let me be frank. I want no pomp and circumstance when I go. I’m cool with taking the next step in my journey and look forward to heaven. I don’t need a tombstone, and I don’t want people to spend $ they don’t have for travel unless they really feel they need to.
That said, if I could plan my own ideal send-off, it would be aweseome if my loved ones had an all-night party, celebrating life. Goodbyes are important, I know. So tossing my ashes into some body of water as the sun rises and this song plays would, imho, be the perfect way to part. The rising sun symbolizing a new beginning for my loved ones in a world without me, and for myself as I embrace paradise.
Mama, Mama, many worlds I’ve come
since I first left home …Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
If you had to name your three favorite songs, what would they be?
