Just A Few Of My Favorite Lyrics

Music is everywhere and so often highlights my memories, my daily life, transforms my mood, helps my productivity, and sometimes is simply great company.

Here are some of my favorites which have touched my life.

We're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again.
Pink - Just Give Me a Reason (I believe this to be true and have listened to this song repeatedly.  This one line is so moving to me)

Everybody's got a dark side
Do you love me?
Can you love mine?
Nobody's a picture perfect
But we're worth it
You know that we're worth it
Will you love me?
Even with my dark side?

Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (Everyone is scared to show their most vulnerable and honest self, the dark side.  I love this for her desire to be share all of herself with confidence.)

There's a grief that can't be spoken.

There's a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables

Now my friends are dead and gone.

Les Miserables - Empty Chairs At Empty Tables (This is one of the saddest moments in the story and it summons up all my feelings of family and friends who are no longer with us.)

God on high

Hear my prayer

In my need

You have always been there

Les Miserables - Bring Him Home (One of the most beautiful prayers in song I have ever heard.)

In daylights, in sunsets

In midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure, a year in the life?

Rent - Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes (During a difficult time in my life, I listened to the Rent soundtrack every day for about a year.  I would cry, sing out loud, or simply listen and let it take me somewhere safe.  As I get older, this song is usually playing in my head during every funeral I attend.)

It ain't easy growin up in World War III
Never known what love could be, well I've seen
I don't want love to destroy me like it did my family
Can we work it out?  Can we be a family?
Pink - Family Portrait (My family life was nothing like this, but the song found its way into my heart.  As a parent, I felt for the little girl in the song and understood her dreams for her family.)

'Cause I stand for the power to change,
I live for the perfect day.
I love till it hurts like crazy,
I hope for a hero to save me.
I stand for the strange and lonely,
I believe there's a better place.
I don't know if the sky is heaven,
But I pray anyway.

Idina Menzel - I Stand (As soon as I heard this song, I felt it as a prayer.  This song gives me a boost of confidence.)

Allow music to comfort you, heal you, and celebrate with you. Turn the music up.  Listen and let it move you physically.  Music has definitely made a difference in my life.  I hope you find a few of your own that touch your soul.  These are just a few of my favorites.

Work That is Timeless

2013 is 22 days away and when it arrives I will take a deep breath.  This year has been one of learning, writing, reading, sharing, laughing, crying and a lot more.  I have learned so much and have worked hard to be in solution as often as possible.   As the film “Les Miserables” is about open in theatres, it makes me think about the impact we have on each other, the community and the world. 

Les Miserables is one of my favorite stories of all time.  I have seen the musical 10 times, read the book, and listened to the music from the show about 4000 times.  I believe that it was my driving music for my brief commute to work for over a year.  Jean Valjean embodies love, redemption and courage.  When his life is turned by the love and respect shown to him by the priest , I know that anything is possible.  When he tells Fantine on her deathbed that he alone will care for her daughter Cosette, I know that true love and commitment is real.  Javert is the most beautifully flawed character.  As he clings to his ideals and values, he gets lost and is unable to see the humanity in front of him.   His suicide scene is filled with tragic passion and despair.

Like Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” this story has touched so many.  And yet, Victor Hugo had no idea when he wrote this extraordinary book that it would become one of the most successful books, films and musicals of all time.  As I watch both “Les Miserables” and “Rent” again and again (and I do), I always take a moment to think about the authors and give gratitude to them.  Victor Hugo died over 100 years ago and yet his story is timeless.  Jonathan Larson died only days from seeing his work become successful.  His music tells the most beautiful story of love and friendship.

These are just two examples of greatness and I can list others in politics, business or science.  Those who came before us worked so hard to create lasting solutions for the problems of their time.  We are the beneficiary of those brilliant minds.  In this coming year, I will remember to give gratitude to them and remember what we do here today can last for years to come.  It is worth working hard to make life better for us today and for those who will follow.