reverberations

There are some songs that reverberate. For me, this is one of them. Like many, I knew the Tears for Fears version first, I was a child of the 80s after all, but hearing the Gary Jules version while watching Donny Darko that the song really resonated with me. It's when I really heard its lyrics, when I understood its weight and soul. Years passed, and then I found myself in the home of friends. It was a house of congregation, loss was fresh and grief was insurmountable. We ate, we drank, we cried, we were silent, we talked, we mourned, and in the background, the eldest cousin played this song on the piano over and over again. I simply cannot hear this song anymore and not be brought back to those hot days three summers ago. And today, I found this via here:

You may have already seen it. You may or may not have cried. Of course I did. It was the second time today I cried after seeing something on the internet reminding me of that time. I was browsing Buy Olympia, and came acrossThe Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs, an illustrated songbook. I read the title and burst into tears. It's a pretty little song that was sung in honour of one of our friends, and another song that I can't divorce from that time, that person. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to. I relish these reminders, these connections. I haven't ordered the book yet, but I know it will live on our shelf, its pages bent, the cover scuffed with the wear of many hands and many years.

I can't help but wonder what other songs that will follow me through life, become makers or mark me.