by Joanne Wiklund
When I’m alone, I’m often hearing music, but not from outside my head. I find I run through my own playlist of songs I call Songs Of My Life. Some are recurrent and I can sing along. Others I don’t recognize anything but the melody. Words always come later. My grandma, my Dad’s mom, in her later years was a hummer. Always busy, doing cooking which she loved.
Isn’t it fun, when we find that our heritage in so many ways makes such a difference in our lives at different periods? We learn that our family names are repeats of old family names which we had never heard. Music, too, is often so generational. Culture, obviously makes it way known in the music world. Often we are labeled as a child of the 60s, 80s or on up. These labels are accompanied by the music of those years. But personally, the music I sing or whistle is in remembrance of someone in my family, instead of vague cultural references. I kept hearing a song in my head all day on August 4, my middle brother’s birthday. He’s no longer with us, and I was sad. But this melody kept creeping into my head. I couldn’t recognize it at first. I heard the melody before the words. The song was Bridge Over Troubled Waters. What a great reference for Jim, who spent much of his life doing that for others.
There is a great Country Music song called The Song Remembers When. It talks about how a song can transport you back in time for any number of reasons. You might not remember why, but The Song Remembers When. The song was written by Hugh Priestwood and was the title cut of an album by Trish Yearwood, which went platinum in 1993. The song as a single went to Number 2 on the charts that year.
Do you have music in your head without Air Buds in your ears? Maybe it’s just my generation, but if it was good enough for Grandma, it’s good enough for me. Lay down your earphones and see what’s playing in your head. Rock Of Ages, Amazing Grace, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, or The March To The River Kwai? Sing, hum, whistle, write your own music. I believe God speaks to our hearts through the music in our head. Because He Lives.
Psalms 32:11 “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice; ye rightous and shout for joy, all ye that upright in heart.”
Psalms 33:3-4 “Sing a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right and all His works are done in truth.”