The power of music
There is something special about music. The languid flow of melodies and lyrics and how they evoke feelings within us.
Each of our senses is special and unique in its own right. A certain smell can bring back a childhood memory, the sight of a certain mountain or piece of art for example might evoke a sense of awe within us.
For me though, my sense of hearing is probably my favourite of all the senses. I adore music and as my friends will tell you no genre is safe. I like almost all of them, perhsps not in equal measures. You could hear me listening to Rock, Indie, Classical, hard house and old school Rap inside the same hour on an eclectic playlist of mine on Spotify.
This post today however is not about my varied taste in music. It is about how music and particular songs can conjur up all sorts of emotions within us. We often associate songs with different stages of our lives. Celebrations in life, friendships and mad times, breakups and everything in between and even death and the loss of those dearest to us. That last one around the loss of loved ones is what I will focus on in the songs I share below.
I distinctly remember each of these songs when I think of each of them. When I think of them I think of the song and when I hear the song I think of them. They are forever intertwined within my grey matter. Sometimes hearing the songs makes me sad and sometimes they make me smile, but even within the sadness I take solace from the fact that I am remembering them in that moment.
My granny
My Granny was what you call a character. She was loved by all who met her. She had no airs or graces and said things as they were. No ambiguity. No nonsense. Just straight up called it as it was. I was extremely close to my Granny and she lived 50 metres from my own house and when she got a bit older, she moved in with us. So she was very much a part of the family. She lived with us for the ten years before she died and took her dying breath with us by her bedside in our home. I miss her all the time and her sense of humour and humility. These two songs remind me off her.
Jimmy Eat World - Here you me
My cousin sang this on the night of her funeral when we all gathered for a meal and a few drinks. He changed up some of the words to make it even more fitting. It will always remind me of her. God bless her.
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
This song was in the Irish charts at the time and is also etched in my mind when I think of her. Something in these words that just remind me of her
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life
Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads
I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own
My cousin
My cousin was very young when he died. It was heartbreaking for us all, but most especially his parents and his sister. He was the life and soul of the party and it was so hard to see his life light quenched out so young and so tragically. He went to sleep and never woke up.
They played this song at his funeral. It is of course a Leonard Cohen original, but they played Jeff's version. This is one of those rare times when the cover is better than the original.
He lit up a room when he walked into it and had that presence and personality that people just want to be around. He made time for everyone he met and he is a huge loss to this world.
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
My Daughter
I am not going to go into much detail here. It is still too raw, even seven years later.
Our second child and our only girl was "born sleeping" and this is the song we played at her funeral. It still makes me cry every time I listen to it.
Kate Miller-Heidke - The Last Day on Earth
Remembering all your lost loved ones wherever you are around the world.
I'll bow my head now and think of them all with my own lost family and friends
Mind yourselves
- The image used above is not mine. Image source:
https://www.thewayward.co/waywardfolk/2020/1/signs-a-deceased-loved-one-is-nearby
