Occasionally I pick a number, turn on my Nano and hit the forward button until I reach my selected number.
I then write a bit about what comes to mind when I hear the particular piece that’s playing. A real favorite of mine came on today.
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
although a tear may be ever so near
that’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying?
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
It’s a song that makes one side of me quite content while the other side is quite a different story.
There’s a sweet and sentimental sadness about the music that has always “reached me”. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the melody and music
were composed by Charlie Chaplin, a black and white icon I’ve always thought of as a simple and sad little fellow.
Maybe he wasn’t quite so simple after all.
I put this song in the same category as “You are my sunshine” in terms of emotional complexity and ability to yank your heart out of your chest.
But maybe it’s just me.
Most folks that visit here regularly will find it no surprise that my mother used to sing and play both of these songs when I was a child.
So I have the maternal/internal attachment as well as a musical one.
This song made me think about my father too.
I wrote a piece a while ago called “Just Like Chaplin” because at the time that’s how I viewed my father’s physical capacity in addition to his ‘silent movie-like’ demeanor.
I think of how many times that song would involuntarily start playing in my head just sitting with him.
All this from one song.
Powerful stuff, huh?
Music once again continues to astound me.
Almost forgot –
the version I listened to was by David Sanborn off his “Closer” album.
Just humming the song can make you feel better too.
Try it sometime for me.
smiles,
~m
Smoke & Mirrors 
This has to be one of my all time favorite songs. I think because it reaches everyone on some level. I can’t listen to it without crying. I can’t sing it without crying either. But I love it. Also – Over the Rainbow has the same effect on me. Songs/music are very powerful and can have the most profound effects on a person, sparking memories good and bad, old and new.
LOL – I actually have sound tracks for just about every story I ever wrote. Weird, huh?
WC
LikeLike
M~
thanks-I’ll knock that one off on the JD this afternoon!
LikeLike
the one tune that makes me cry, without fail, is (of all things) home on the range! one of my earliest memories is of a clock my grandad bought me that played this tune as i was drifting off to sleep…given he has been dead since 1964 the memory goes back a long way…it never fails to make me think of him, and as young as i was when he was killed i can still remember the bond we had..there are others that evoke emotion, but nothing like that one…
LikeLike
I had not read “Just like Chaplin.” It was VERY touching.
I like reading about your favorite songs. Is the Sanborn version purely instrumental, no vocals?
LikeLike
After humming the tune, I am smiling. Thanks.
LikeLike
sadly i don’t have the clock anymore, it was one of the things left behind when i left home under less than pleasant circumstances, but i have a sneaking suspicion my father may still have it…he made reference the last time i was down to there being something “extra special” for me either my 60th birthday or when he passes away, whichever comes first..i’m kind of hoping it’s my 60th for obvious reasons….i can think of nothing else he would have been referring to as there was nothing that meant more to me….
LikeLike
magic indeed…and in fact there’s a post about the clock in the making…along with about 25 others that i need to tweak…just don’t know which one to tweak first 😯
LikeLike