There is one passion in my life that I sometimes struggle to put into words and that is my love of music. I get the irony – a writer/songwriter that can’t put why they love music into words. But, tonight, I am going to try to explain my love for one particular artist.
In 1991, a lot of things in my life shifted out of orbit. First, we’d recently moved to a new city. Then, our mother’s boyfriend moved in with us. And a few days before my twin brother’s and my 10th birthday, our father announced he had a brain tumor. He passed a way a few months later on November 15th.
Somewhere along the way, I discovered I could get completely lost in a song and that I could find the words to write – even if I couldn’t say them.
In that discover, I was introduced to Marc Cohn’s debut album. Music is one of the few things I have in common with my mother’s boyfriend and one of the many things I share with her. I cannot remember if it was her or him that first played the record, but whomever it was will forever have my gratitude.
Those eleven tracks offered me comfort and a shoulder to lean on over the years – some made me cry, others made me smile and a few made me dream.
Last night, thanks to my awesome boyfriend (who is not a fan of that particular genre of music), I was finally able to see Marc in concert in Franklin, TN. I’d had a particularly trying day at work and was tired and not in the best of moods. But the first note of the first song he played silenced everything that was swirling through my brain. I could close my eyes
and think back to all the memories and moments the songs stirred.
After the show, I got to meet Marc, briefly. I wish I could have told him just how impactful his music was in my life, but I did not.
So, thank you Marc for helping to heal the broken heart of a little girl and for inspiring me to chase my own writing dreams.