In addition to my getting misty-eyed when a skiier from a small town in Oklahoma who was raised by her blind grandparents and had to walk 17 miles to and from training each day wins an Olympc medal, or when a son returns from fighting overseas just in time for the holidays (and to make Folgers coffee for his family), sometimes I'm a sucker for songs.
The other day I talked about how certain songs get me to thinking; there are other songs that choke me up. While some songs remind me of a particular person or time (I remember as a child my grandmother used to sing Song Sung Blue to me), some songs are designed to provoke strong emotions.
One such song is Moments by the country group Emerson Drive. This song tells the story of a young man who walks onto a bridge with the intent of jumping off, but he is shadowed by a homeless man who recognizes what the other is thinking. When the man goes to find some change for the homeless man, the homeless man explains:
I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did what I thought I couldn't do
Looking at me now you might not know it, but I've had my moments
It's certainly explainable that a song dealing with someone contemplating suicide might provoke an emotional response, but I don't think that's why I get choked up. And here goes another confession to my blog:
When I was in my late 20s and early 30s, I was on a pretty rapid career trajectory in the association management field. I had the opportunity to volunteer a great deal of time for one of my professional organizations, rising to leadership positions as chairs of two committees and then, ultimately, I was the youngest individual elected to the board of directors. I won a few awards for my volunteer service and certainly was on track to someday run an association. More importantly, I felt a great deal of respect from my peers.
And then, one day, I lost my motivation. I felt tired of playing the game, and once I took a job that was farther away from the DC area, my opportunities to stay involved diminished. As is the case in any arena, new individuals took my place.
At this point in my career, I feel a little lost sometimes, like I fell off track and can't seem to get back to where I was. Which is why I believe the line "Looking at me now you might not know it, but I had my moments" never fails to choke me up, because I guess I want people to understand that I have been and still am capable of so much more than I'm achieving now.
Okay, thanks for that analysis. Take a listen to Moments and then, answer me this: is there a particular song that makes you sad?
No comments:
Post a Comment