It's a challenge to keep in mind how beautiful and safe we are on this planet when news reports show us mostly scenes of natural disasters and hateful local and international acts. This is where we get to exercise our gift of free will. In every second of every day, we have the choice to hold in our minds--and anchor with our hearts--the vision of peace and serenity we say we want to experience individually and collectively here. Yes, many are truly suffering from the lack of what we all want and deserve. But at least 51% of us are always happy and healthy. If that were not true, this planet would have self-destructed by now. When too many of us believe that the cup is half empty and it will certainly never be running over, we unwittingly tip the scales to our individual and global disadvantage.
When I start feeling 50/50 or worse, I listen to some music, and soon "all is right with the world" again (i.e., +51 or more). My music-refreshed self can again see, hear, and feel what a WONDERful world this is. Louis Armstrong's classic song What A Wonderful World as the soundtrack for the short and uplifting video below is my kind of medicine! And offering such a cure was the intention of this video's creator, Geneticc. Thanks!
EnJoy!
WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD sung by Louis Armstrong (video by Geneticc)
Yesterday while talking with my brother Tom, he got a little tongue-tied and said, "...he's a magician -- er, I mean, he's a musician...." I interrupted him and said, "Yes indeed! Anyone who's a musician is definitely also a magician!" We laughed.
This got me remembering one of my favorite songs from the '60s: Do You Believe in Magic by The Lovin' Spoonful. Below, I link to a full-color video of that group performing that song live on The Ed Sullivan Show on March 19, 1967. Lyrics are below the link to that video.
Wikipedia says this song has been enJOYing successive generations, including being recorded by BBMak for the score of Return to Never Land, a sequel to Disney's 1953 classic Peter Pan. (one of my FAVORITE childhood stories). And it was ranked #216 on Rolling Stone's (November 2004) list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
My brother's linguistic "mix up" is just one more clue in our quest to solve the mystery of life. It's not a meaningless coincidence that our words for magic and music are so similar. (I wonder if that's true in other languages.) It's intentional languaging, like Hansel and Gretel left pebbles for themselves to find their way back home when in the forest. But the day they didn't have time to collect some pebbles and had to use bread crumbs instead (which the birds happily ate), Hansel and Gretel couldn't find their way home, and ended up caged inside a wicked old woman's house. (The symbolism in that fable is a topic for another post entirely!)
May the magic of music enJOY you and set you free! (Complete lyrics below.)
The Lovin' Spoonful performing Do You Believe In Magic in 1965 on the Hullabaloo show.
Do You Believe in Magic lyrics
Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll
If you believe in magic don't bother to choose
If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind
If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until morning 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me
Yeah, do you believe in magic
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Ohh, talking 'bout magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe, believer
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
May the HAITI earthquake be the what finally ends HATE among the clans on this planet. May this be the last labor contraction in birthing the "thousand years of peace" on this beautiful planet. (Don't worry: If we can all live in total peace for a thousand years, there will be no going back!) May this indescribable grief and desperation be quickly balanced and then totally transformed by a bizillion acts of kindness and generosity from all who understand that, as President Obama reminded us yesterday, "There but for the grace of God go we." May this and all crises past and future help us remember The Power of One.
EnJoy watching and hearing Bomshel sing The Power of One below!
Today, I'm sharing Listen To The Music by The Doobie Brothers. The lyrics are below the 1975 (!) music video. I hope you'll sing along!
I'm also introducing my new e-sig icon. I think it perfectly depicts how music uses our ears to paint a rainbow in our heart!
Rainbows are one of my favorite natural phenomena. This rainbow icon will help me remember that I don't need to wait for an intense rainstorm--physical (rain, thunder, and lightnening) or metaphysical (life stress or a crisis) to get my hopes up of seeing a rainbow.
Music enables me to consciously and proactively change the weather in my life, to end a cloudy day or tumultuous storm, and instead "see" (hear --> feel) a rainbow ANYtime I want to. Rainbows aren't pointing the way to a pot of gold. They ARE the pot of gold!
EnJOY!
Biz Burnett
Lyrics of Listen To The Music by The Doobie Brothers
Don't you feel it growin',
Day by day
People
Gettin' ready for the news
Some are happy,
Some are sad
Wo, we got to let the music play
Wo, oh yeah
What the people need
Is a way to make 'em smile
It ain't so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message
Get it on through
Oh now mama's goin' to after awhile
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Well I know,
You know better
Everything I say
Meet me in the country for a day
We'll be happy
And we'll dance
Wo, we're gonna dance the blues away
If I'm feelin' good to you
And you're feelin' good to me
There ain't nothin' we can't do or say
Feelin' good,
Feeling fine
Wo, baby, let the music play
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Like a lazy flowing river
Surrounding castles in the sky
And the crowd is growing bigger
List'nin' for the happy sounds
And I got to let ‘em fly
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
Wo, oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
God, we gotta let the music play!
music.wikia.com describes Ray Stevens as "a two-time Grammy-Award winning musician, singer, composer, producer, and arranger. He's probably most well-known for his comedy recordings and his music videos, although his biggest chart hit was "Everything Is Beautiful", the gospel song he wrote and performed. This song won him a Grammy (his other was for best arranger of "Misty"). I think Ray Stevens is one of the most creative songwriters of our time.
Here's Ray singing Feel The Music. I wonder if he might agree with me that this song is a "sub-track" in all of his songs?
