15 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #3 Michael Jackson, "Man in the Mirror"

 As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. 

These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. #STformativesongs

#3 - "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson 

I know Michael Jackson is an artist with a tainted legacy, but that doesn't lessen the impact of this, one of his greatest songs. This one actually continues the theme from yesterday. Before I look to change anyone else, I need to face the, well, face I see in the mirror each day. I need to work on that person before I even dare to presume to address anyone else's faults. And sadly, knowing me the way I do, it's going to be a long time before I get that guy right enough to go around judging anyone else. 

I think this one lesson is one that could fix so many of the problems in our world and cultures. 

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I'm gonna make a change

For once in my life

It's gonna feel real good

Gonna make a difference

Gonna make it right

As I, turn up the collar on

My favorite winter coat

This wind is blowing my mind

I see the kids in the streets

With not enough to eat

Who am I to be blind?

Pretending not to see their needs

A summer disregard, a broken bottle top

And a one man soul

They follow each other on the wind ya' know

'Cause they got nowhere to go

That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Na-na-na, na-na-na

Na-na, na-na

I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love

It's time that I realize

That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan

Could it be really me, pretending that they're not alone?

A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart

And a washed-out dream

They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see

'Cause they got no place to be

That's why I'm starting with me

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could've been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself and then make that

Change!

15 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #4 The 77s, "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life"

 As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. 

These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. #STformativesongs

#4 - "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life" by the 77s

One of my core beliefs that has guided me is that unless I can acknowledge the evils (call it your choice, sin, bad stuff, flaws, etc.) inside, I can't become the person I'm supposed to. The minute I think I'm above anything is the moment I set myself up for a fall. There is an innate self-focus, selfishness that I have to resist, but to do that I have to know it's there and face it. It doesn't mean I embrace it, but I do have to accept it. I am a prideful SOB, and I know it. I want what I  everybody else be damned instinctively, and only knowing that's not who I want to be helps be resist it. Michael Roe and the 77s nailed me totally in this song, and I love them for it. 

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Well, I feel

Like I have to feel

Something good all of the time

With most of life I cannot deal

But a good feeling I can feel

Even though it may not be real

And if a person, place or thing can deliver

I will quiver with delight

But will it last me for all my life

Or just one more lonely night

The lust, the flesh

The eyes

And the pride of life

Drain the life

Right out of me

Well, I see something and I want it

Bam! Right now!

No questions asked

Don't worry how much it costs me now or later

I want it and I want it fast

I'll go to any length

Sacrifice all that I already have

And all that I might get

Just to get

Something more that I don't need

And Lord, please don't ask me what for

The lust, the flesh

The eyes

And the pride of life

Drain the life

Right out of me

And I love when folks

Look right at me

And what I'm doing

Or have done

And lay it on about

How groovy I am

And that I'm looking grand

And every single word

Makes me think I'll live forever

Never knowing that they probably

Won't remember what they said tomorrow

Tomorrow I could be dead

The lust, the flesh

The eyes

And the pride of life

Drain the life

Right out of me

15 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #5 Mike and the Mechanics, "The Living Years"

As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. 

These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. #STformativesongs

#5 - "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics 

This song was really driven home to me when my Granddaddy Taylor died. When I was a kid, my brother and I would visit Grandma and Granddaddy often. But as I became an adult, those visits grew far more infrequent, and when they moved to another state, we didn't seen them again until the funeral. When I arrived, one of my uncles (and rightfully so) told me directly that I had caused Granddaddy a lot of pain by not visiting or calling. And in spite of my ruffled pride, I had to admit he was right. I had (not intentionally, but by neglect) shut off part of my history because life kept me so busy and I had wrongfully just assumed there would always be plenty of time for that later. 

I have tried after that to be better about keeping in touch, particularly with family, and I don't want my kids to miss a part of their heritage. So, in the interest of "The Living Years," I remind myself that I need to put all else aside from time to time and embrace the listening and the hearing I need for my own life to be complete. 

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Every generation

Blames the one before

And all of their frustrations

Come beating on your door

I know that I'm a prisoner

To all my Father held so dear

I know that I'm a hostage

To all his hopes and fears

I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Oh, crumpled bits of paper

Filled with imperfect thought

Stilted conversations

I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it

He says it's perfect sense

You just can't get agreement

In this present tense

We all talk a different language

Talking in defence

Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)

You can listen as well as you hear

It's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)

To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel

Between the present and the past

We only sacrifice the future

It's the bitterness that lasts

So don't yield to the fortunes

You sometimes see as fate

It may have a new perspective

On a different day

And if you don't give up, and don't give in

You may just be okay

So say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)

You can listen as well as you hear

Because it's too late, it's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)

To admit we don't see eye to eye

I wasn't there that morning

When my Father passed away

I didn't get to tell him

All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit

Later that same year

I'm sure I heard his echo

In my baby's new born tears

I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)

You can listen as well as you hear

It's too late (it's too late) when we die (it's too late when we die)

To admit we don't see eye to eye

So say it, say it, say it loud (say it loud)

Say it clear (come on say it clear)

15 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #6 Mr. Mister, "The Border"

As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. 

These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. #STformativesongs

#6 - "The Border" by Mr. Mister

I have to thank Matt Carter for introducing me to this song. Matt and I were in a band together back in the late 80s/early 90s, and without him, my Mr. Mister knowledge would have died with their hit album that featured "Broken Wings." 

This song really always speaks to me, every time I hear it and every time I play it. The idea of always being on the border of something new and something next is one that I've always believed. It keeps me from getting stuck in the present or the past, either the successes or the failures, either the loves or the wounds. "How many wounds does it take before we are healing?" 

I'm a dream chaser. I have been since my teens. And dreams do seduce, and as often as not, I end up back where I started, but I know I'm still somehow a better person for having chased them regardless. So I continued to chase and then to wait again, heart in my hand on the border. 

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We, we must go on now, wherever people go who go on together

And now, try to hold on now, too many of us have run, run out of the circle

Can you hear me, are you breathing

I need you near me, no I'm not leaving

I'm in no hurry to do this alone

I am standing here with my arms open wide

I am waiting here, heart in my hand on the border

Dreams, dreams may seduce you

But sooner or later they're gone and you're back where you started

Oh look, look at these scars now

How many wounds does it take before we are healing

Can we go on now, from what we have done now

Yes we must go on, our questions unanswered

I know what we're after is right here in our hands

I am standing here with my arms open wide

I keep waiting here, heart in my hand on the border

And every step we take gives us the strength to go on

And all the love we make gets us closer to home

I can see it all so clearly now, I can hear your voice in a song

And it burns down inside my soul, it takes me down this winding road

We can find our way back home

We, we must go on now, wherever people go who go on together

Oh, standing here with my arms open wide

And I keep waiting here, on the borderline

And every step we take gives us the strength to go on

And all the love we make gets us closer to home