More songs in my emotional playground
The book club discussion guide for Adoption Unfiltered includes playlists for accessing emotions from co-authors Sara, Kelsey, and me. In this series of posts, I’m taking you on a tour of the songs on my playlist, about three at a time. Here is the second batch of songs that help me feel the deep feels.
Just Breathe by Pearl Jam
I had always had a normal affinity for Just Breathe by Pearl Jam, but when it was played at the funeral of Officer Gordon Beesley (end of watch June 21, 2021) this song became one of those that could bring me to tears.
I don’t wanna hurt
There’s so much in this world to make me bleed
I sought it often a year later in the days and months after my nephew Dominic was killed, precisely because of this song’s ability to wring me out (other songs about Dominic).
Hold me til I die
Meet you on the other side
Can anyone can listen to this song without being profoundly moved?
I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers
The piano intro draws me in. Soon the vocal harmonies and cello give me a deep sense of longing. Is this a coming to you song or a leaving you song? Vulnerability and longing emanate from every note.
When at first I learned to speak
I used all my words to fight
With him and her and you and me
Ah, but it’s just a waste of time
Scott Avett, elder of the two Avett brothers, mused about the resonance this song has for so many: “Maybe people are drawn to that stuff because they keep those feelings so close and they don’t get to exercise them enough on a bigger level because it shows vulnerability. It’s a place where we can really indulge in that loneliness. Longing in music is the number one thing that I gravitate towards.”
Works for me, too, Scott.
Savage Daughter by Sarah Hester Ross
This song is about savagely being yourself.
Because who else would you be? Some people get this innately, and others, like me, struggle to even know who they are, much less be it.
The fierceness in this song that reminds me of my own savage daughter, whose ability to be herself is both courageous and inspiring.
We are all brought forth out of darkness
Into this world, through blood and through pain
And deep in our bones, the old songs are waking
So sing them with voices of thunder and rain
I also think of several adoptee and birth parent activists (including both women and men, equally savage) who lobby state legislatures, year after year, to open access to original birth certificates to all adults.
We are our mother’s savage daughters
We will not cut our hair
We will not lower our voice
More Songs that Soothe
For links to the playlists of songs that soothe Sara and Kelsey, download our FREE Adoption Unfiltered book club guide.
Watch this space for the backstories behind a new batch of songs that are meaningful to me. Links will be filled in as each post is published.
- Part 1: Regina Spektor, Rent, Daniel Lanois & Bono
- Part 2: Pearl Jam, Avett Brothers, Sara Hester Ross
- Part 3: Kacey Musgraves, Wookiefoot, ‘Til Tuesday
- Part 4: Supertramp, Miley Cyrus, Ayla Nereo
- Part 5: One Direction, Carly Simon, Indigo Girls
- Part 6: Ingrid Michaelson, Jesus Christ Superstar, Billy Joel
- Part 7: Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Aimee Mann, John Lennon
