More songs in my emotional playground
The book club discussion guide for the book Adoption Unfiltered includes playlists for accessing emotions from co-authors Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, and me. In this series, I’m taking you on a tour of the songs on my playlist, about three at a time. Here is the sixth batch of songs that help me feel the deep feels.
The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson
There are so many songs about chains! What does this say about the human condition and the emotions we express through music?
Thirty-plus years after Fleetwood Mac released The Chain (which is a favorite of mine), Ingrid Michealson did the same thing but different. Ingrid Michaelson’s creation starts by quietly lamenting the end of a relationship. It hits a peak toward the end during which Ingrid sings a gorgeous 3-way round with herself.
So glide away on soapy heels
And promise not to promise anymore
And if you come around again
Then I will take the chain from off the door
The round experiences an attrition of vocal parts an eventually ends up quiet and unified again. It’s truly beautiful.
Gethsemane from the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack
Good grief. How often do I struggle with surrender? I have such a need to control!
Many many years ago when we were TTC (trying to conceive) via treatments, I was so scared. Scared of the needles. Scared of the invasive procedures, scared of a devastating outcome. I pleaded with whoever was more powerful than me to please-please-please not make me go through all that suffering. I listened over and over again to Jesus pleading the same with God when he was directed toward his fate. Would his gruesome death be put upon him, or would he accept it willingly?
God, thy will is hard
But you hold every card
I will drink your cup of poison
Nail me to your cross and break me
Bleed me, beat me, kill me, take me, now!
Before I change my mind
Unlike Jesus, I wasn’t facing a literal death, but it sure felt like I was.
This song is from Jesus Christ Superstar, where Jesus is first angry at God, and then accepting of God’s will. The orchestration is amazing, as is the soul-wrenching voice of Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. Listening helps me proceed when every cell in my body resists doing so out of fear. I can surrender that part of me to the music.
And So It Goes by Billy Joel
This hymn-like song from Billy Joel was written in iambic tetrameter about the end of a relationship and the loss surrounding it.
I remember singing this lullaby to our future/hypothetical child when we first decided to start a family. It was a offering to welcome them, giving my heart to the one or two who would have it.
So I would choose to be with you
That’s if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break
Loss and longing are so beautifully tranquil in And So It Goes.
More Songs that Soothe
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.
- For links to the playlists of songs that soothe Sara and Kelsey, download our FREE Adoption Unfiltered book club guide
- Lori’s Part 1: Regina Spektor, Rent, Daniel Lanois & Bono
- Lori’s Part 2: Pearl Jam, Avett Brothers, Sara Hester Ross
- Lori’s Part 3: Kacey Musgraves, Wookiefoot, ‘Til Tuesday
- Lori’s Part 4: Supertramp, Miley Cyrus, Ayla Nereo
- Lori’s Part 5: One Direction, Carly Simon, Indigo Girls
- Lori’s Part 6: Ingrid Michaelson, Jesus Christ Superstar, Billy Joel
- Lori’s Part 7: Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Aimee Mann, John Lennon
