THE SONG OF THE SOUL

    

EVENSONG

Last week I celebrated my 76th birthday, which  means, according to the flow of life, that technically I'm in my 77th year. That's a really interesting concept that on your birthday you turn a particular age, but you're really already heading toward the next one. Ah, but I'm still just 76, and the song that kept going on in my brain that day was "76 Trombones Led the Big Parade" from The Music Man.
     I don't recall ever leading any parades in my life,

and yet, I do seem to remember being led, if not by trombones, at least by music of various kinds. During my beginning years, the music consisted primarily of crooners and big bands. We had a wind-up Victrola in the parlor which played 78 rpm records. It stood taller than me, so I didn't really use it myself (I think I could do it now if I hurry before I lose too many more inches). Of course the quality of the sound in those days was pretty poor in comparison to that of entertainment equipment today, but it was fine since we had nothing to compare it to. It was good enough to make me joyful when somebody in the family would play a record--I had my favorites. You might say that it led me to a "happy place".
     Later when I got to my preteens and teens, I was smitten by rock and roll. I started taking lessons on the guitar when I was 12, dreaming of becoming a big time star like Elvis or Ricky Nelson. I listened everyday to Joe Niagara on Philadelphia AM radio who played all the major hits of the day (I don't remember the call letters of the station). I played music on the latest available technology of the day, my 45 rpm record player. Every chance I got I bought records and tried to imitate the songs as best as I could--which was actually not very good at all. But the songs, as simplistic as they were, led me in the parade of discovery of the newer emotions of love, heartbreak, and the march toward adulthood.
     Then as the years went on, I gained appreciation for folk music, jazz, and classical, while still fondly holding on to all the previous music that had so strongly defined the meaning of life for me in words and melody, enabling me to feel the rhythm of life as it unfolded.To this day I can truthfully say that I am a fan of most genres of music, a few exceptions being those forms that are based on expressions of anger and distortion. That's not meant as a judgmental statement against those who do like those two last qualities in music I mentioned--they just don't appeal to me personally.
     Anyway, the point is that I believe that there is a song in each of our souls that resonates with who we are at various ages and stages of our lives. In other words, music being so expressive of the many moods of the human condition, it is about as spiritual as you can get. That's why I love to meditate to whatever music is stirring me at the moment. I find that in trying times or good times, putting on some music, getting in a comfortable chair, closing my eyes, the music will lead me in a peaceful parade of thoughts and feelings. The trick is to open your heart to truly let it happen without fear or guilt.