NaBloPoMo: Day Two-5 Things-Songs That Get Me

I'm doing National Blog Posting Month with a twist. Every day I'll write 5 things about a specific topic.

Day Two- 5 Songs that get me every time.

1. O Holy Night. This is my favorite Christmas song. It doesn't matter who's singing. When they get to the line "Fall on your knees. O hear the Angel's voices", my heart pounds and I take a deep breath.

2. Over The Rainbow. The Wizard of Oz is one of my all-time favorite movies, so the Judy Garland version is the first I ever heard. I really felt the theme of not knowing if there is a better place where you belong. Then I heard the Eva Cassidy version. This song was released by her Dad after Eva died in 1996. She had an amazing voice but never thought she was good enough to record anything professionally. I read her story in a newspaper, then bought the CD and the first time I heard her sing this song, it made me cry. The next version I fell in love with was by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. This is the one that they played on ER as Dr Mark Greene was dying. It's a reggae twist on the song, with just voice and ukelele. Iz died in 1997.

3. Leave The Light On by Beth Hart. Beth is a California singer who is bluesy and soul. She has a raw vocal style that reminds me of Janis Joplin. She writes and sings about broken people and their heartbreaks. Leave The Light On is about a girl that was abused. The line that gets me is this one....."I ain't that bad. I'm just messed up. I ain't that sad. But I'm sad enough".
I have to thank my daughter for finding Beth's music and passing it on to me. She has a new CD that was just released in Oct.

4. Brave by Idina Menzel. I LOVE IDINA! I knew she had been the original Elphaba in WICKED, then I found out she also recorded a solo CD. Brave was my favorite song. The lines that soar in my heart are...."And I might still cry. And I might still bleed. These thorns in my side. This heart on my sleeve. And lightning may strike. This ground at my feet. And I might still crash. But I still believe."

5.The Last Song by Elton John. In the 1980's the name Ryan White was familiar to many people. Elton John became friends with the boy and his mother. Ryan was banned from attending school because he had AIDS. Ryan White died in 1990.

Also, in the 1980's in Swansea Massachusetts, a boy named Mark Hoyle also had AIDS. I grew up in Swansea. I was already out of high school when the news broke that parents were meeting to decide if Mark should be allowed to go to school. The result of that meeting was that Mark was the first child knowingly allowed to attend school with AIDS. Mark died in 1986. The town of Swansea named their next new Elementary school after Mark.

Elton John wrote The Last Song about a father and son who reunite when the son is dying of AIDS. I can't listen to this song or see the video without getting choked up.