Reach The Beach

 

Passing time has no surprise when

Pleasure found is my resource

And should I lose my lovers eyes then....

Secrecy will hide my course

 

Forgotten lies aim to distract me

This mono mind must not connect!

Purer nature will contain me

Free fall in air I must surpass

When I’m falling calling I return

Floating closer to your shore

 

Oh I start to drift with tide!

Maybe I’ll reach, I’ll reach the beach

My heart is sealed water tight

Maybe I’ll reach, I’ll reach the beach

 

When in your eyes I see the sign...

A teasing passion for a desperate man

And should I lose my lovers eyes then....

Secrecy will hide my course

 

When I’m feeling too sure, then I drown

Floating closer to your shore

 

My heart is sealed water tight

Maybe I’ll reach, I’ll reach the beach

While the verse “My heart is sealed water tight” is a bit out of line with the rest of the songs theme, it is in harmony with the water and beach theme.  So I never really let that verse bother me.  I mean, if your heart is “sealed watertight” then you are not letting anything in.  While the rest of the song is begging to be let in, it is desperate to make that final step and find love.

I recall the verse “And should I lose my lovers eyes then, secrecy will hide my course.”  I was 18 and 19 visiting Myrtle BeachSouth Carolina.  I met girl after girl, night after night, most all had boyfriends and cheated on them with me.  I understood why.  They were young and wanted a dreamer for a weekend or night.  They wanted passion.  I saw them as women that wouldn’t risk giving up what they had to try with me.  I see now of course how logical they all were.  But at the time I thought as I walked hand in hand with them on the beach, “And should I lose my lovers eyes then, secrecy will hide my course.”

These verses below became my Bogart theme.  Cy wrote them but they became my own as I had a vision quest of true love.  I always felt love could conquer all. I really thought love was enough.

When in your eyes I see the sign...

A teasing passion for a desperate man

And should I lose my lovers eyes then....

Secrecy will hide my course

Human Race – Red Rider

The western feel and the post apocalyptic tone combine for a driving tune. Human Race is the land version of Reach the Beach.  “Running hard I’m here, but I could be there instead” are words that still seem to describe my life.  When I listen to Human Race I have a vision in my mind. I’m the man driving his horse across a rolling plain with a cottage like home way far off in the distance. The sun is going down behind it.   I take comfort knowing I can see the lights on and the solace it represents when I get there.

Once again words are so very important to me in this song.  But you can feel the driving rhythm carrying you forward towards that goal.  She is in that home.  She is there waiting for me, if I can only reach my destination.   The other message in Human Race is very clear.  Nothing will stop him from reaching his goal and girl.  “Knocked me down but I got back up and I got myself back in the race again.  Knock me down and I’ll get back in the race again.” These are simple but powerful words.

These words are how I’ve lived my life.  Somehow they are inspirational to me.  There was a video to this song where the lead singer stood against a sunset and his image became a shadow, his shadow became a blur, his blur became an artistic figure with one shoulder lifted and an arm lifted away from his body.  I recall quite by accident once when friends and I took a photo of me at the beach with the sun coming up that I mocked that pose.  I found it peculiar and valued that photo especially for what it meant to me.  

What makes these songs so important are verses, but the stories they tell on a whole are equally important.  I love the idea of race against shadows and race against stone.  The artistry and imagery is mystical.  While the message in this song is about losing love and going on, the romantic side of me always imagined the girl I was driving to was no longer expecting me to come, but I did.  And for that she accepted my passionate attempt to regain love.  But then there were times when my heart has been hurt and I then identified more with that verse what it really says, “I loved you but that was way back then, now I’m alone outside, I face the wind the rain washes me thin.”  There are times I really understood that pain.

Human Race

I can see it on the road ahead

Running hard I'm here

But I could be there instead

Many houses with the lights on

Silhouettes behind the shades

Beside fires

I'm sure that I saw you in one

I loved you but

That was way back then

Now I'm alone outside

I face the wind

The rain washes me thin

 

Knocked me down and I got back up

I got myself back in the race again

Knock me down and I'll get back up

And I'll get myself

Back in the race again

 

Race through the shadows

Race against stone

The sunken city

I thought was my own

Might be in a brave new world

But it's not my home

Roll over fall in

'My God', I screamed

They might catch them

They won't catch me

I'm out here clean

I'm free...I'm free

 

Knocked me down and I got back up

And I got myself

Back in the race again

Knock me down and I'll get back up

And I'll get myself

Back in the race again

When You Were Young – Del Amitri

For me very few songs fit me well.  And that is fine.  I like it that way.  So when I first heard the words to When You Were Young not so long ago I was immediately drawn to them. 

When You Were Young

 

Look at the fool you have been
They drained the pool while you drowned in the dream
They bought your beauty and your soul
Then softly sold you back what they stole

So look into the mirror do you recognize someone
Is it who you always hoped you would become? ...when you were young.

The disappointment of success
Hangs from your shoulders like a hand-me down dress
And down nostalgia's rocky road
You watch your former lovers growing old
 
So look into the mirror do you recognize someone
Is it who you always hoped you would become? ...when you were young.
 
Sometimes your lack of sympathy gets hard to explain
So on your mask of make up just paint a little parody of pain
 
So I look into the mirror and I recognize someone
Is it who you always hoped you would become? ...when you were young.

What’s said here very few of us can own up to. Too few of us can too can look in the mirror and recognize someone, the person we always hoped we’d become.

I for one actually took a moment to ponder this when I first heard this song.  It hurt.  I realized for the first time in years I denied myself my dreams.  I never became a rock star; I never became a football star.  And the wife I had, changed me.  She made me deny my fun loving self and stifled me from being happy.   I realized some of the best women in my life, I rejected and I actually married the one woman that didn’t want to be a team, she wanted what I could offer.  I made a bitter mistake that I had to make the best of.   So every time I hear this song I think, it’s not too late to make my life what I always hoped I would become; perhaps not a rock star or football star but happy none-the-less.  What will make me happy, I’ll keep to myself. ;)

Facing the Wind – The Fixx

At a young age in middle-school I knew of a couple that were to me and ideal couple. I envied what they had and aspired to one day have that great of a friend too.  I spent many years with a woman that never offered that kind of friendship so to this day I still identify with the idea of “Just give me something to hold on, a piece of the world that won’t go wrong”.  To have a woman you can can’t on that much is the most precious prize a man can have.  Without it you are out there alone, facing the wind.  Musically Facing the Wind has the perfect Fixx sound.  JamieWest Oram’s signature guitar changs and flares fit together with haunting keyboards.  CyCurnin blends in perfectly and the production of this song makes it timeless.   Once again a story of a man making attempts to do right in this world, feeling alone and hoping to find happiness is a story I called my own.

Facing the Wind

 

Just give me something to hold on
A piece of the world
That won't go wrong
Is there somebody there
I can talk to
Somebody sharing the same view
Facing the wind
One avenue that would lead to
A place on this earth
Where we all grew
Longing for travel we stood still
Watching a sky that was once blue
Facing the wind, facing the wind
Facing the wind, facing the wind
Each line we throw
Gives us false hope
One ray of light, God I can't cope
Thinking about what we all are
One human race that's gone too far
Facing the wind, facing the wind
Facing the wind, facing the wind

As Time Goes By – HermanHupfeld as sung by DooleyWilson

When I reached my mid twenties I finally accepted that I had to see Casablanca.  It was the right time for me. I was a bit bitter over love and it sure hit home when Rick said, “I’m not fighting for anything anymore, I’m the only cause I’m interested in.”  My brother recently died during this time and hope for a true love had reached acceptance in futility.  But I had hope for others as I thought love was possible, only for another man.  

This song is filled with hope.  And like so many other songs that work best, it is simple.  The fact it is considered a classic makes total sense to me.

This day and age we're living in gives cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention and things like fourth dimension.

Yet we get a trifle weary with Mr.Einstein's theory.
So we must get down to earth at times
Relax relieve the tension

And no matter what the progress or what may yet be proved
The simple facts of life are such they cannot be removed.

You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply as time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you."
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date.
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate.
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny.

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

Oh yes, the world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

Bye Bye Love – The Cars

In the 8^th grade I was bused.  It was a long bus drive and I had a cassette player I would use for countless personal uses.  It was the type that in the 1970’s everyone used.  You used two fingers to depress the record and play button at once to record live ambient sound.  I had a tape of the Cars first album. By the time May and June rolled around the Cars first album was permanently ingrained in my head.  I played that album more times than any other album I ever listened to.  I’m surprised the kids on the bus didn’t want me banished from riding I played it so much.   

One song stuck out, Bye Bye Love.  It was upbeat for a song about wanting a glamorous girl you dang well knew was only interested in playing with you like a toy.   I actually didn’t listen to this one song for the words, but they were good for this song.  The fact is the Cars could never be remembered for lyrics.  Bye Bye Love is a rock song through and through.  

What kid didn’t want to sing “substitution mass confusion!” and “You think your so illustrious you call your self intense!”  And they go on.  The words are just flat out fun to sing.  But hell, even the Cars had their Bogart moment with “Always it’s some other guy”. 

Bye Bye Love

 

I can't feel this way much longer

Expecting to survive

With all these hidden innuendoes

Just waiting to arrive

It's such a wavy midnight

And you slip into insane

Electric angel rock and roller

I hear what you're playin'

 

It's an orangy sky

Always it's some other guy

It's just a broken lullaby

Bye bye love

Bye bye love

Bye bye love

Bye bye love

 

Substitution mass confusion

Clouds inside your head

Involving all my energies

Until you visited

With your eyes of porcelain and of blue

They shock me into sense

You think you're so illustrious

You call yourself intense 

Over the Rainbow – E.Y.Harburg and HaroldArlen

Almost anyone can sing this song, and I’d be glad to hear it despite JudyGarland performing it so earnestly. The attraction to this song is obvious.  I grew up with watching the Wizard of Oz and just like every other kid, I wished I could go to that far away place over the rainbow too.   The song demands sincerity and is truly beautiful when sung with passion.  No wonder JudyGarland was a mess, this song takes everything out of you when you are done.   There are few songs this simple yet this powerful. 

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Pure Imagination - Leslie Bricusse and AnthonyNewley

Some songs you carry with you all your life.  This is one from my childhood.  By the time I was ten I had seen WillyWonka and The Chocolate Factory 3 or 4 times; one melody stuck and that was Pure Imagination.  This may have been when I first starting appreciating music and more importantly the words to music.  I really wanted to believe in a better place; pure imagination.  I wanted it to be a place that once you imagined it, you were there and it was real.  Sometimes when I would dream at night I would imagine I found money or could fly and somehow came to the conclusion while I slept that what I had was not real and I didn’t want to wake up from that dream.  In some dreams I fooled myself into think I had already woken and that I still had the money or could still fly.  Eventually the morning light would wake me from slumber only to realize my dreams and imagination were not fulfilled in the night, my dreams were bitter sweet.  Pure Imagination is song that makes me feel dreams have come true.

Only recently did I learn that Maroon 5 has a cover of this classic tune from a children’s cult classic film made in 1971.  GeneWilder in the original movie adaptation of the book sung it best still.  The sloppy guitar refrain Maroon 5 produced in their version is a bit too muddy for my taste; however they do try and honor the song’s original feel and tone which is a nice sentiment.   The fact is you can’t give this song a grown up spin otherwise it will lose it’s appeal.

What is most important to me again are the words.  When GeneWilder first sung these words I believed him and to this day the words give me hope. 

Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin with a spin
Trav'ling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free

The Look of Love (part one) – ABC
Here is my favorite lyric writer, Martin Fry penning a simple and happy song about love.  Not simply love at first sight love but the look you get from someone that energizes you and makes anything possible because you got the look of love that wouldn’t be given to anyone other than you.  ABC was on the forefront of ushering in the classy 80’s bands with the Lexicon of Love one of my favorite all time albums. 

I owe my long time appreciation to this song because it is ultimately optimistic.  It was a song that somehow kept coming back into my life too.  At least 10 years after it came out I started dating an Olympic ice-skater from North Carolina.  She practiced at the University of Delaware Rust Arena.  I would visit her at practice and her short program was to The Look of Love.  There were other times this song had been in my sound track of life. I’ve had great memories to this song.  

The Look of Love is special.  It is a dance tune with a classical string arrangement supporting it at every level.  It starts with piano keys pounding and horns leading into the vocals. Then even a guitar plays in carefully.  Enter strings and your spirit rises with the string build up.  Martin tells his story and you are drawn in. 

“When your girl has left you on the pavement... then you dreams fall apart at the seams.” Ah... this can’t be a sad song! No, he goes on, “It takes a lot to love you!... Yes the one thing that turns this grey sky to blue!”

Trevor Horn of the Buggles produced this and his signature is all over this song.  The layering of instruments are clean and easily made out.  It builds to a crescendo and have to wonder why it ever had to end...

The Look of Love

 

When your world is full of strange arrangements
And gravity won’t pull you through
You know you’re missing out on something
Well that something depends on you
All I’m saying, it takes a lot to love you
All I’m doing, you know it’s true
All I mean now, there’s one thing
Yes one thing that turns this grey sky to blue

That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love

When your girl has left you out on the pavement (goodbye)
Then your dreams fall apart at the seams
Your reason for living’s your reason for leaving
Don’t ask me what it means

Who’s got the look? I don’t know the answer to that question
Where’s the look? if I knew I would tell you
What’s the look? look for your information
Yes there’s one thing, the one thing that still holds true
(what’s that? )

That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love

If you judge a book by the cover,
Then you’d judge the look by the lover
I hope you’ll soon recover,
Me I go from one extreme to another

This is a hopeful song.  You are quickly made aware that MoonRiver is a river of life with hope always just around the corner.  The Moon is your friend always looking down on you.  I suppose you could think that as you float down this river you have in the back of your head you will one day cross at the other side, but for now you are pursuing a dream.  What makes this song so special is it is can be sung acapella and the words become the music.  However accompanied by traditional southern instruments give it the southern soul many of the words imply.  You can feel the sadness and happiness at once; the sense of longing in MoonRiver is more pronounced when music is present.

MoonRiver made its splash from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  A story of a young woman who’s given up on love for the love of money and she finds her heart can’t be sold as easily as she hoped. Like Casablanca, this movie is not meant for the young but those that have been somewhat hardened by the cruelty of growing up.  I was ready for the movie at the age of 28.  What drew me to it was the that I felt I knew so many women like HollyGolitely.  Women that wouldn’t let the real mean into their heart because they were aiming much higher for men with money and position. 

But the song, MoonRiver was not meant exclusively to appreciated within the context of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  When I hear the words I feel that same longing I understand when I hear Reach the Beach or even Human Race.   It’s about searching for the answer, searching for that pot of gold at the rainbows end, Love.  

MoonRiver

 

Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossin’ you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way

Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after that same rainbow’s end, waitin’ round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me

My Funny Valentine – Rogers & Hart

I stumbled across this classic standard by way of ElvisCostello and frankly I like his effort more than most others.  It is a tribute song, a tribute to finding your love and assuring her that you are undoubtedly in love with her and only her.  It’s a song of devotion where she can do no wrong; in fact if she does wrong she’s forgiven already.  It’s a song that has a chauvinistic tone but is appreciated for its diplomatic gentlemanly effort.  

The idea that you don’t let your appreciation for such a fantastic woman is admirable and touching.  I can say from experience I felt that about someone I spent many years with.  She didn’t see it my way and strange as it may sound, she felt I wasn’t good enough for her.  I wonder if she learned a lesson now that I’m gone. I’ll never know, I’ve moved on.  But the fact anyone can reach this point in love is a wonderful thing and I envy anyone that can find love this strong. 

My Funny Valentine

 

Be hold the way our fine feathered-friend his virtue doth parade.

Thou knowest not my dim witted friend, the picture Thou hast made.

Thy vacant brow and Thy tousled hair conceal Thy good intent.

Thou noble upright, truthful, sincere and slightly dopey gent- you are...

 

My funny Valentine

Sweet comic Valentine

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable

Unphotographable

Yet you’re my favorite work of art

 

Is your figure less than Greek

Is your mouth a little weak

When you open it to speak

Are you smart?

 

But don’t change a hair for me

Not if you care for me

Stay little Valentine stay

Each day is Valentines Day

 

Is your figure less than Greek

Is your mouth a little weak

When you open it to speak

Are you smart?

 

But don’t you change one hair for me

Not if you care for me

Stay little Valentine stay

Each day is Valentines Day

Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears

Here is a twist, from My funny Valentine and the unbreakable love to Pale Shelter, a love that is hallow, a love that is only offered in good times.  This was how I saw love when I was 17.  Ironically, it is how I see love 20 years later.  Sure love exists, but only for some other man. For me, I’ve only come to know Pale Shelter.

Because the message in this song was so meaningful to me it drew me in.  The music itself kept me a fan of this song for all my life.  It has a thumbprint all its own and good or bad or sad mood, the song works on every level.  The acoustic guitar is not overplayed and sounds much like a Dobro but I could be mistaken.   The drums are undeniable Tears For Fears as they make perfect use of electronic and traditional percussion.  They blend the old and new seamlessly and therefore can’t be trapped in the 80’s sound machine. 

What makes the song work on every level are words such as, “You don’t give me love, you give me pale shelter, you don’t give me love, you give me cold hands, and I can’t operate on this failure, when all I want to be is in ...complete command.”  I recall how my friends and I would sing “You don’t give love, You don’t give me love” while at work and our co-workers laughed at our ease of taking such serious words, “... And I can’t operate on this failure, when all I want to be is ... in complete command!”  We’d draw sharp responses after singing that verse with, “When all you ever be is, out of a job!” singing it back to us as closely as we sung it ourselves. 

For all the laughs, those words rang so true for me.  I wanted love but on my terms and for that reason I didn’t marry until I was 33.  I was not going to settle for second best, ever.

I remember when I was in my teens my friends used to steal signs.  Street signs, soda machine front’s and even signs in buildings.  Call it a passage of youth, I’ve seen signs everywhere in homes that definitely didn’t belong there. ;)  So my friends gave me one sign of a fall out shelter.  I recall painting over the words fall out and putting the word, “Pale” over it so the sign showed a place of solace, from Pale Shelter.  I kept that sign for years; I think my significant other threw it out. She did that with a lot of my valuables.  But that is another story. 

There was a fantastic video to this song too.  It was quirky but original, showing both Roland and Curt wearing Shoalin Kung Fu garb in this semi English semi Asian garden with a spiritual slash psycho-analytical feel.  They rejected faith and put their faith in the mind.  I thought this was bizarre and was fascinated with their approach to life. They were young but dark.  I really identified with them as thinking men.  I really loved the idea that youth didn’t necessarily mean dim and un-thoughtful.  I rejected their rejection of faith however.  I didn’t follow Tears For Fears blindly but I sure did love their sound and approach.

Pale Shelter

 

How can I be sure ?

When your intrusion is my illusion

How can I be sure

When all the time you changed my mind

I asked for more and more

How can I be sure

 

When you don't give me love

You gave me Pale shelter

You don't give me love

You give me cold hands

And I can't operate on this failure

When all I want to be is

Completely in command

 

How can I be sure

For all you say you keep me waiting

How can I be sure

When all you do is see me through

I asked for more and more

How can I be sure

 

I've been here before

There is no why, no need to try

I thought you had it all

I'm calling you, I'm calling you

I ask for more and more

How can I be sure

True – Spandau Ballet

This song spent a month at the top spot in the UK charts.  But it’s spent a lifetime in my heart.  It has class.  While most every song I list here I wanted a woman to know about so she could learn about me and what drives me, the song True and the next song are different.  True is a personal song that I hardly want to mention because so many find it hackneyed from its eternal airplay.  For all I know it’s played at weddings.  I listen to this song when no one is around.  When I was married, my wife never even knew about how much I loved this song.  True is that personal to me.  The sax interlude sets True up as a sexually expressive song but somehow yet I found the music more personal than sexual.

True is a song in the spirit of Motown by a blue-eyed soul band, but it would fall flat without the powerful and persuasive voice of TonyHadley.   True was a beach song of mine.  Sitting on the beach watching the sun come up listening to this song was a great moment in time.  You can’t find moments like that very often and I look back on those times of solitude as solace.  True is not just a pensive song, it is song that unlocks your dreams.  True is a confession to one’s self. 

True

 

So true

Funny how it seems

Always in time, but never in line for dreams

Head over heels, when toe to toe

This is the sound of my soul

This is the sound

I bought a ticket to the world

But now I’ve come back again

Why do I find it hard to write the next line?

When I want the truth to be said

I know this much is true

With a thrill in my head an a pill on my tongue

Dissolve the nerves that have just begun

Listening to Marvin all night long

This is the sound of my soul

This is the sound

Always slipping from my hands

Sands a time of its own

Take your seaside arms and write the next line

Oh I want the truth to be known

It’s My Life – Talk Talk

I’ll close with a song that was towering in my youth.  Although It’s My Life is a synthpop song of the 80’s it has legs.  It is not dated other than the style of commercial pop in general.  Even then, I can’t say It’s My Life is typical commercial pop, it has a hook but it has a great unique thumbprint sound of its own.  

It’s My Life is an introspective song.  At 18 I sang this song aloud in my car driving to and from EricaDilcer’s home.  She was a girlfriend of mine that eventually became just a friend.  But the long drives to Avondale PA were filled with me jetting over the Landenberg country side listening to It’s My Life.  And I still feel the exact same way about this song.  The words and music are spiritual to me.  You can sense the demand of being understood that THIS is MY life when you sing it.  Where the song True is personal on a sentimental level, It’s My Life is an in your face self proclamation that It’s my life!  There is a journey to be had and the world is so big and doesn’t see you.  The happiness you want must be earned, you have to go after it and even then you are still really all alone.

It’s my life makes me feel good about being alone because in the end, the singer is singing this message to himself not others.  It eases the feeling that no one will ever really care what becomes of me, but me.  So I must make the best of this life. The honor I accomplish can only really be understood by me.  It’s My Life as a song represents the time I spend alone when no one is watching and I still do the right thing.  After all, I have to live myself all my life. Sure this song has another message, but for me, the message is different. I sense fierce and wild natural elements in the song.  I sense that control must be taken in a wide open life void of others caring for you, so a journey to make yourself a better man takes flight.

It’s My Life

 

Funny how I find myself
In love with you
If I could buy my reasoning
I'd pay to lose

One half won't do

I've asked myself
How much do you
commit yourself?

It's my life
Don't you forget
It's my life
It never ends (It never ends)

Funny how I blind myself
I never knew
If I was sometimes played upon
Afraid to lose

I'd tell myself
What good you do
Convince myself

It's my life
Don't you forget
It's my life
It never ends (It never ends)

I've asked myself
How much do you
commit yourself?

It's my life
Don't you forget
Caught in the crowd
It never ends

So this is my list of favorite songs.  To read the words alone from most you can’t the real impact of what they are worth.  So if you give them a listen, you may understand better where I’m coming from and why they are great.   One day my children will have favorite songs and it would an honor if they pick even one of these up from me.   Our lives are but a spec in time.  I don’t have much of a legacy, although I hope I do find my children look back on my life and see a man that had passion and class.  I’d like to be remembered as one of the few that count.