When God created the world, the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy
Job 38:7
Music says so much about who you are. Chords and lyrics have a special way of moving our hearts. King David played the harp to sooth Saul when he was distraught, and he wrote most of the songs in the Psalms.
I recently had someone ponder whether a good Christian should listen to only Christian music. It is an interesting question. I've wondered it myself. I've always had music in my life, and I've learned many a lesson from a song. I think that music is a gift, to the listener, the composer, the writer, it is an outlet of creativity, imagination. God gave us the ability to sing and play instruments, and the Bible refers to music again and again. Songs can have a powerful impact. I think it boils down to the intent of the song as well as the listeners interpretation. So I will defer to Steven Curtis Chapman here "Do everything you do to the glory of the one who made you".
I started this blog for many reasons, one being, I want to have a record of who I am...what I believe in, something my kids might look back and and say, ah ha...that's why she did this or that...or ohhh, now it makes sense...I want them to know me....ME.
So music is a big part of my life. My folks always had music on when I was growing up. I remember my mom singing along with Stevie Nicks while riding in our old Pacer. I thought she was a great singer (smile) I remember that still today. My dad was/is a classic rock guy. I was listening to 97X way before it was cool, everyone else was listening to 98.9 back when it was bubble gum pop! Not me, dad had his Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull records on 24/7 when he was home. All the classics, Santana, Zepplin, The Eagles. I knew all the songs, I loved growing up in a house with a background melody always on.
I love music still today. We always jam out in the car or at home while doing chores. My phone has a MP3 player, and I chuckled the other day as I listened to my playlist. It is very eclectic. Mostly christian rock, some metal, blue grass, country, some acoustic tracks...they are all dear to me for some reason. Hand picked out of the millions of options on Amazon. So here is my thought...I wanted to go over each song...tell the story of how it came to be important enough to me, to include on my playlist. I'm going to start today :)
Song #1
Cowboy Take Me Away ~ The Dixie Chicks~Fly
I said, "I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something
Wild and unruly"
I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of blue bonnets
In a blanket made of stars
Oh it sounds good to me
I say, "Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue"
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to Heaven above and
Closer to you, closer to you
I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall
I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile
Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to Heaven above and
Closer to you, closer to you
I said, "I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something
Wild and unruly"
Oh it sounds so good to me
Closer to you, closer to you
If you don't know this song, you should google it and listen! If you know me, then there are already tons of clues as to why this hits home for me. The first stanza sums up so much. I knew I could never have a desk job...it was nature or nothing....how little did I know that I wouldn't be taming unruly equine, but human children...my own. I bought this CD when I was in my senior year of undergrad at SIU in Carbondale. The best thing we had ever done was move away from home. Free to find ourselves in the wild blue. To learn to depend on each other. To make new friends and find ourselves.
So this song reminds me of a 20 something me, a girl not quite sure of who I was or where I was going, but having a heart for the freedom of nature, unobscured views, and my cowboy.
I remember sleeping under the stars as a girl scout, of gardening with my folks, pulling weeds, eating the berries off the vine, the carrots out of the ground. I knew I always wanted something like that. No big cities for me...the wild blue, that is where I knew I belonged.
I find it interesting how time changes our interpretation of lyrics. Back then I was studying to be a horse breeder, pictured myself on a ranch somewhere out west. My cowboy was my Matt, and my unruly was wild horses. Today..my somewhere is right here, and my unruly is my children, my daily chaos....my bliss. Today my cowboy is God, he was the only one who could set me free.Mattt to wear the hat or the boots anyway, he prefers camo and a ball cap.) (So he was okay with the new cowboy in my life :)
Thanks for a great song Dixie Chicks. One of many.
What are your favorite songs? I would love to hear why, or even why you love this one too!
