Is That Too Much to Ask?
Have you ever asked anyone what their favorite (fill in the blank with any number of subjects here) is? Favorite color, favorite book, favorite food, favorite movie, favorite person, favorite place, favorite animal, favorite drink. Most people have an immediate answer ready without hesitation. They can rattle off their list of favorites without pause, like perfectly timed snare drums nary missing a beat. But ask them their favorite song and you will not get just one unambiguous direct answer.
I don’t think I have ever met a person yet who has just one favorite song. Most of us have many. Because music moves us, comforts us, consoles us, inspires us, motivates us, heals us, torments us, and reminds us. It travels with us through our lives. We listen in the car, in the shower, in the bed, in the office, in the gym, in the kitchen. We surround ourselves with song. And because we carry music with us wherever we go, the songs very often become the keepers of our memories. At the slightest hint of the first few notes of a song that has impacted us, we go flashing back with vivid imagination to the time and place whence that song was our favorite.
I still remember ancient hymns of homesick seafarers that my Nordic grandfather used to sing to me when I was a child. These are probably some of my very earliest memories. From a time when I don’t remember much of anything else. Yet I know every word without faltering and I can still hear his deep gentle voice rambling off at the end of each lyric. He loved to flip the words around when he would get to the end of the song. He would bellow in laughter which in turn would send me into fits of giggles. And this is exactly how I remember the words to these songs. All mixed up and silly making me feel safe and loved and very close to home. “Show me the way to go home/I’m tired and I wanna go to bed/I had a little drink about an hour ago/And it went straight to my head/Wherever I may roam/On land or sea or foam/You can always hear me singing this song/Show me the way to go/Show me the way to go/Show me the home to go way-ay-ay.”
I remember songs from my preteen years, the songs my mother would play and sing and dance around the kitchen to. She would hand me the potato masher to use as a microphone and we would belt at the top of our lungs, messing up the lyrics time and again and falling to the ground in a frenzy of laughter. So many songs from her generation bring these memories to the forefront of my mind with just a few simple chords. Elvis, Patsy Cline, The Beatles. These were her favorites and as such they became my favorites and the keepers of some of the fondest memories of my carefree and innocent youth.
I remember my father crooning The Beatles’ Michelle My Belle to me, completely butchering the French verses and pretending like he knew exactly what he was singing. I can still hear his voice mumbling like he had a mouth full of marbles over those French lines, “Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble/Tres bien ensemble”, yet he would roar them with a fearless poise, “Sunday morning lobe lee blow blah blah low blee blah blah.” Then his voice would intensify, reaching impossible heights as he serenaded with fatherly passion, “I love you, I love you, I love youuuuuuuuu.” That song will forever warm my soul. And the words will forever be all warbled up with love.
There are the songs that I first fell in love to, the songs that crushed my heart upon my first break up, the songs that healed my heart when I was ready, the songs I listened to on repeat before swimming competitions, the songs that soothed me to sleep on those endless insomnia-tortured nights. All of these songs, each and every one, had a purpose and a moment and a power within them that could do the impossible. Each and every song was, is, and will forever be a favorite song.
So when someone asks me what is my favorite song, the list might just go on forever. But there is one song that was my anthem nearly 20 years ago. I was 26 years old, recently divorced, fighting this newly diagnosed mental illness that I thought would kill me, and I would scream these lyrics over and over again in my car, in my room, anywhere where no one could hear me, except maybe God. It spoke volumes to me. It communicated my life right in that moment. Even today, it resonates with me as do most of Beth Hart’s lyrics. And then I found this silly little tee shirt which reminds me of those lyrics.
All I want is everything. Is that too much to ask? Listen to this song…Beth Hart’s Is That Too Much to Ask? and maybe you will understand what I mean. But perhaps you won’t. Because my interpretation of the words as they apply to me are so completely personal that I imagine only I truly understand.
That’s the thing about songs and their lyrics. It doesn’t much matter what the songwriter intended. The truest meaning comes from the interpretation by the listener. That is where the impact is. Where the connection occurs. Somewhere deep in the heart of the song, there is a place between the words and the music where the infinite connection happens. You can’t really name that place. You’ll never find it if you try to look for it. What the song means to me as I absorb the words and the sounds into the fiber of my being…that is the meaning of the song. My interpretation may evolve and change over time. This particular song still has the same significance to me now as it did 20 years ago, but with an entirely different meaning. Because I have connected to it at a different place inside of the song.
Twenty years ago, I was looking for salvation and crying out to the universe, “Is that too much to ask?” Today, I am looking for everything. All I want is everything. Everything great and good and beautiful and true and authentic and sincere and loving and kind. Still I am screaming out to the universe the same lyric, “Is that too much to ask?” but my need is different. It doesn’t carry the desperation from two decades past. Rather it holds a sense of joy and confidence in the fact that nothing is too much to ask.
So now I ask you, what are your favorite songs? And what do they mean to you? That is not too much to ask, is it?
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.
Shop my look:
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
20 Comments
Nancy
I am that person!! I have one song that stands out of all songs for me! Not going to tell ya! Check the Match Made in Seven post next Wednesday!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
You do?! Of course, you do! Because you are unique even among unique people, my friend! I will check on Wednesday to see what your song is!
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar A Strauss-Benjamin
Love the back of that shirt!
And so true, I have no ONE favorite song!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Tamar! And I also have never ever heard someone respond to that questions with, “I don’t like music.” Haha. Everyone likes music!
xoxo
Shelbee
Julie | This Main Line Life
I totally agree. Music is so powerful and I have a bunch of different songs that are so strongly linked to different parts of my life. When I hear certain songs, I instantly feel like I did back in the day when was listening to is regularly… some good, some not so good, but that’s the way it goes.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Julie, thanks so much for sharing your experience with music. There are definitely songs that stir up really uncomfortable feelings as well. Sometimes, I turn those off immediately. But other times, I do listen and venture back in my memory for a moment and then I am thankful that I am where I am right now!
xoxo
Shelbee
Grace Liang
I love those leopard print shoes! So cute and versatile!
https://colorandgrace.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Grace! I bought them on clearance last summer and only just got around to wearing them now.
xoxo
Shelbee
Ashley
I have sooo many favorite songs- and you’re so right! Music/song has a way of embedding itself into our minds, memories, and souls. Music sticks with us!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Ashley! There are so many songs that I love that I could call favorites for so many different reasons.
xoxo
Shelbee
Anne M Bray
Whenever I am asked “The Favorite” question, my mind goes blank. Every day, it’s a different answer. This applies to all the categories!
Methinks you’ve inspired another SpyGirl post. Or would it be a Glutton post? Heck, I can’t decide! (I’m still working on the 11 Questions).
Great post! xxox
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha! Variety is the spice of life! So having lots of favorites in every category is a good thing, I believe. I might be quite the same for most things. Except colors…green will forever and always be my favorite color! That hasn’t changed in 40 years so I doubt it ever will. As for all the rest, yeah, I probably have a different answer on any given day. I can’t wait to see what kind of a post this as inspired!!!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marilee Judith Gramith
I have to agree with Anne and say that my favorites are quite changeable. Different songs appeal for various parts of life. Music has such incredible power to evoke memory and then whatever emotional impact is wrapped around the memory good and bad. I just can’t do it.
“WANTING” is completely open ended, unpredictable, and can be limitless.
ASKING implies that being fulfilled lies outside our power.
Are we ENTITLED to Any? Some? Or just what we need?
Does TAKING sound definitively greedy?
Does ENOUGH even exist?
SCREEEECH!!!!! :-0!!!!!!
yikes…
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my word, Jude, you just presented some thoroughly provocative questions here, haven’t you?! SCREECH and YIKES are my exact response as well! Perhaps another blog post in the making with those!
So this weird thing with songs has been happening lately to me…songs that I heard in childhood but didn’t really quite understand them lyrically but liked them nonetheless. They take on this whole new meaning in my later years as I have gained life experience. One song in particular comes to mind…Elton John’s Sad Songs. I have heard that song a million times during my youth and always liked it. But recently I heard it and really listened to the lyrics and I was like, “Wow. That is really impactful.” I never realized it before. Funny how our experiences can change all those perceptions as well. Music is so good for the soul, isn’t it?!
I hope your weekend is going marvelously!
xoxo
Shelbee
xoxo
Shelbee
Marilee Judith Gramith
I think my first awareness of “time and place reality” came in my teaching career. Fourteen year olds generally have no real understanding or appreciation for historical events because they haven’t got the ability to reflect from an experience based point of view. There are those kids who just develop an incredibly authentic interest and there’s the rare “old soul” who’s point of view uniquely wise, but the real challenge of teaching becomes creating interest through managing context. Motivation is primarily emotion based.
Music taps, bumps, collides, titilates and even ravages our emotions. Have you ever felt that you just couldn’t listen to a particular song or even genre of music because it was just too evocative? Lyrics definitely evolve over time.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jude, this is a brilliant analysis of how music does effect us. And yes, there are some songs and some genres that can literally make me feel like I’m going to vomit because of the emotions they stir up. Those songs that make me physically ill with their reminders, I cannot turn them off quick enough. I always found that response to be so strange and probably more powerful then the responses that are more positive and feel good. I may need to investigate this phenomenon further. There you go again inciting me with new content ideas!!!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
I have so many favorite songs, here are a couple in no order:
1. And When She Danced- Marilyn Martin and David Foster from the movie Stealing Home (1989)- Crappy movie but when the song came out in 1989 I was still trying to be a DJ in college. Just love the opening line- “If you go back in time, in a place in your mind” Pretty powerful.
2. Seasons Suite- Tom Hedden (1994)- The best instrumental I have ever heard. It took me years to track down the CD with the 12 minute version. It is just something that gets my day going and whenever my time has passed, I want this to be played at any memorial for me.
3. All versions of Do They Know Its Christmas Time (All Versions)- Just a lovely song that shows me that there is still caring in the world. “And In Our World of Plenty, We Can Spead a Smile of Joy, Throw Your Arms Around the Word.” Something I have tried to for 35 years.
4. Let It Go (2013)- From Frozen-I know it is a Disney movie song but it so great because I am the one who is totally different and people don’t understand and have been isolated by others a lot in my life. If you study the words, it has a magical effect. It has become a theme song for me.
5. Voices That Care (1991), Persian Gulf I War Vet here. That song was written for us.
Sorry for being so long. There are many other songs that mean a ton to me. I don’t really want to bore you with them.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Patrick, thank you so much for sharing some of your favorites! Some I know well and agree with you that there is much power in them. Others I am not familiar with but will go searching for them so I can have a listen! Not boring at all…music has a power that brings people together unlike anything else in this world. And I think it is super important to be introduced to new music. You never know what you will connect with.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jacqui Berry
Top t-shirt Shelbee – love it! Thanks for adding to the #linkup Jacqui Mummabstylish
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jacqui! This one definitely spoke to me and that is important when choosing a graphic tee!
xoxo
Shelbee