Journalism 101 teaches us that a good newswriter should include the following in every story:
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW
Music is like the News. It reports on our human condition. "Sad Songs Say So Much" or "I Just Want to Celebrate". It tells us about our worlds; inner and outer worlds; and the space between us. In my blogs, I want to bring you the GOOD NEWS. Music gives us the good news everyday; all we have to do listen. Great music compels us to do more than listen, but also to act.
Because I don't subscribe to the idea of doing things in a linear fashion, I am not going to illustrate how songs give us the "WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE-WHY-HOW" in that order. Today, I am going to start with WHERE. Where am I and where are you? Where have we been and where are we going?
WHERE SONGS:
The ultimate where song is Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere", but a close runner-up is the classic song "Route 66". It literally follows the map along Route 66, taking us from Chicago to Los Angeles, passing through St.Louis, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Gallup, Flagstaff, Winona, Kingman, Barstow and San Bernadino.
"Is Anybody Going to San Antone?" "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" "Please Come to Boston" because "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
Some songs are so certain about WHERE they are. "Houston" by Dean Martin, "Omaha" by the Counting Crows, "London" by the Smiths, "Miami" by Will Smith, "New York New York" by Sinatra, and "Gary Indiana" by Little Ronnie Howard. Of course, let's not forget "La Grange" by ZZ Top.
Wherever you are, and wherever you are going, keep Music with you and you will never be lost.
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