The Power Of A Song

Have you ever experienced the power of a song? It might be just one of many songs that play on the radio station frequently.  Yet that particular song at that particular moment strikes a chord within you on some level. Suddenly you are transported to a different place, a different time, perhaps even to a different version of yourself.

Today a song on the radio pulled my mind back into 1989. Many times over the last 30 years this song has played and I paid little attention. Yet, today at this particular moment, the song carried me back to just after I graduated from high school, and brought to mind memories of a special friend who has since passed on from this world. I felt a stab in my heart and a feeling of loss although it’s been over 15 years since he died. Such is the power of a song.

If that wasn’t enough, I heard another song twice today as I scrolled through radio stations while driving around running errands. And again the power of a song pulled me into the past. My mind raced to thoughts of another dear friend I haven’t seen in a couple of years. With a twinge of my heart, I wondered how he was doing in life.

Both times those songs carried me away from reality and into a different world. A world I was no longer a part of, and yet I was still connected to. Those friends are still dear to my heart, but no longer a part of my daily life.

I think part of the reason that songs can carry us away so easily is that they touch our subconscious. Many times they are playing in the background of the events of our lives while things are happening. Even though we aren’t paying attention to them, they become part of that memory and can bring that memory back to us.

But, the song ends. The moment is over. And life goes on.