Music! "Bless her heart!" and John Denver!

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I remember as a young adult loving John Denver’s music. He performed in Nashville years ago, and I was blessed to be able to attend. I guess it was his style ~ ballad type songs, clear voice, gentle singing ~ and I miss him! Another life cut short! Tonight, on PBS, they have been featuring his music. As I listened to and pondered the lyrics of “Annies Song”, I found myself offering the words to the Lord. Take a look at the words:


You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

(Let me give my life to you)
(Come let me love you)
(Come love me again)

You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Music has played a major role in my life from childhood. My Mom tells me that, as a very young toddler, I climbed up on the piano bench and sat for extended periods of time, beating on the keys with both hands! Can you just imagine the nerve-wracking dissonance I was literally beating on the keys!?!?!?!? Bless my mom’s heart! Speaking of blessing her heart: we had a pastor that often said that, in the South, we can get away with saying most anything about anyone, and no matter how insulting it is, as long as we follow by saying, ‘Bless her heart”, or preface our comments with “Bless his heart” all is fine. For example: “Oh, Suzy Q, you got your hair dyed, bless your heart!” Translation: “Your hair looks like crapola!”…OR… “Well, Junior, I would not have recognized you. You’ve grown since last I saw you, bless your heart!” Translation: “Man, you’re fat!”

I digress…..as I got older, I would add gobbly-goop words with the piano dissonance, which I’m confident made it ever so much more palatable to anyone within hearing distance! Here I was ~ a Beethoven in the making! Even when I wasn’t banging on the ivories, I made up songs to go along with just about everything occurring at the time. Some were more “sing-song” types. Here’s an example: when my Daddy would go to the bathroom for his “morning’s morning” (as my Mom called it! What in the heck is that? Still have no idea where that came from!), he locked the door! SMART MAN! I went every morning to the door, knocked on it and said, “Knock, knock!”
Daddy: “Who’s there?”

Me: “Me!”

Daddy: “Me who?”

Me: “Nennie Sevage!” (she was my imaginary friend that went with me everywhere!)

Daddy: “Come in!”

Me: “NO!”

Daddy: “Why?”

Me: “Cuz!”

The End

It happened day after day after day and only in the morning—you know, while he was doing his “morning’s morning!” Go figure!

My parents finally decided I was ready for piano lessons. HA! That was probably more for their sanity than for developing my potential talent! I took lessons for many years from Mrs. Doster and I loved it. She quickly discovered that I had the gift of “sight reading”, so playing the printed music was no problem for me. She took me as far as she felt she could; then recommended my parents enroll me in Blair School of Music. Now, that’s serious stuff right there, let me tell ya’….no messin’ around! Practice at least an hour daily; memorize all sorts of classics; and perform for “juries!” When I took the entrance exam, guess what! After 8 years with Mrs. Doster, I failed the portion of the exam that dealt with music theory. They asked me all sorts of questions, required I play certain scales, etc., and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about! They questioned 8 years of lessons and complete ignorance of basic theory! They reluctantly accepted me; however, I ended up taking Music Theory 1 twice, and barely passed! One of my teachers at Blair smacked my fingers with a ruler each time I made a mistake. Another one smoked during my lesson! Absolutely incredible concert pianists, but a weird breed, I tell you!

After several years at Blair, I made the decision to stop taking lessons. I am very thankful, however, that my parents afforded me the opportunity and pushed me to continue for many years of lessons, daily practice, recitals and juries. I served as church pianist at my home church for about 10 years; I taught piano lessons in my home to supplement our income; and, the day I received my M.Ed. degree from Belmont university, I returned home to find a brand new Baby Grand piano in my living room ~ a gift from my parents.

I rarely play~ life gets in the way! My piano needs to be tuned, bless it’s heart! HA! Playing is s therapeutic for me, however, and brings me great pleasure, even though I am a bit rusty!

Music still is the way I am most often blessed! I love praise and worship music; I was brought up on the old hymns, and can never get enough of those; I like some country; I devour the “oldies” (60s and 70s)…and, yes, I love John Denver! Oh my, now he just started singing “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane’….left he did, never to return that last time! What a shame; yet what a forever blessing he has left us!

I leave you with the words to another John Denver song called “Rhymes and Reasons”, praying you will be blessed this day!

So you speak to me of sadness
And the coming of the winter
Fear that is within you now
It seems to never end
And the dreams that have escaped you
And the hope that you've forgotten
You tell me that you need me now
You want to be my friend

And you wonder where we're going
Where's the rhyme and where's the reason
And it's you cannot accept
It is here we must begin
To seek the wisdom of the children
And the graceful way of flowers in the wind

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

Like the music of the mountains
And the colours of the rainbow
They're a promise of the future
And a blessing for today
Though the cities start to crumble
And the towers fall around us
The sun is slowly fading
And it's colder than the sea

It is written from the desert
To the mountains they shall lead us
By the hand and by the heart
They will comfort you and me
In their innocence and trusting
They will teach us to be free

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

And the song that I am singing
Is a prayer to non believers
Come and stand beside us
We can find a better way



I am grateful for gifted songwriters and musicians who bless our lives with their music!