My son Mahonrai played her songs while driving back from their High School. I'd like to think I've got an ear for good lyrics but never expected this one. Priscilla Renea discusses the consequences of early sex and high school drop outs in a humorous musical way in this song.
"Little Miss Mary Mack had buttons all down her back. She let Georgie loosen them up and now her belly's fat."
On the phone every day I talk to young girls around 18 years old who has already had a kid or three with no job, single and living off child support, disability or SSI. In all my knowledge about SSI I never knew that anyone below 65 can qualify. I've always thought they were for retired 65 year old people. It shocked me to know that there are so many young people living off SSI.
In the song it talks about Georgie leaving and abandoning Mary and the babies. Yes, she had a second child. Mary can't find a job because she dropped out of High School and didn't graduate. Had no college education at all. Then the struggles go on and the chain continues to the next generation. Because there is no good foundation coming from the home.
The song has a catchy tune to it and a I love this artist. Priscilla Renea is one underrated artist. She discusses issues in her music that deals with the consequences of wrong decisions. Especially when it comes to teenage sex, even safe sex and marriage. Young kids are not ready to have sex let alone get married. There's an order to everything in this life and if we try to skip we'll end up falling on our noses.
And who doesn't think of "Strawberry Wine" especially during Summer Time. One of my all time favorite is this catchy, tasty and delicious tune of Strawberry Wine by the enticing voice of Deana Carter. Sings of young innocent love at 17, banks of the river, well hidden paths and the Hot July moon. It is the first of July after all to-day and I can't sleep simply because the heat is distracting and we have no air conditioning.
At 17, most girls go through that first love that they can't quite forget when they grow old. Not that they aren't over it, but that "first taste of love" leaves somewhat of an everlasting "bittersweet" memory of the feeling itself. To some the taste and then the other is the "lost of innocence."
Isn't this how young teen age love feels like. The curiosity and the longing of a freshly discovered love. "WE found love growing wild..." It is a time of excitement and anxiousness. Anxious to know and experience more. Undecided whether to stay within the boundaries or give in and let it all go up in flame. Oh to be so young, innocent and in love. So fresh, innocent and new.
"My biggest fear was September when he had to go." Most love at 17 never works out. Too young to settle down. Goals, plans can put distance between love. Through the years though, you still REMEMBER. At seventeen, 30 seems so ancient. Now at almost 50 it seemed like so long ago and we long for 30 again. I don't know about 17 though. "Fields have grown older now...there's nothing time hasn't touch..." Life happens and we can only look back with a smile and every now and then remember what love felt like at 17. The memories always at the tip of our minds. "Funny how those memories they last."
"Year after year I come back to this place, just to remember the taste..."
In love simply with the feeling of love itself. Nothing beats the feeling of love at 17.
It's like "Strawberry Wine". I've never tasted wine and never will but "Strawberry Wine" seems to be the perfect description of love at Seventeen. Gets one all tipsy, wild eyed and willing to taste and take that daring step to the unknown. Then drift away "like the leaves in the Fall". Left with memories to go back to in this journey of life. We relive our lives in our minds. Even way back to when we were once 17. I love listening to this song. Makes me want to time travel sometimes.
"Home", the word itself makes me SIGH! Longing for my childhood home every now and then. So long ago and so far away.
Where do you consider your home?
They say HOME is where the HEART is.
TRUE
This beautiful, melancholy song by Michael Buble takes me back to my childhood days where I was born and grew up. Just the memory of it touched my heart in a sad kind of way. It was such a happy time. The carefree days of my childhood years. So much fond memories and delightful time.
I have a new home now. With my husband and my precious children. But every now and I yearn for my long-time-ago home where I grew up. It's always on the tip of my mind. This is one of the songs that takes me clear back to my little girl days.
A weary traveler. Restless yet focused. Discovers he's tired of it all. That his search for fulfillment is frivolous and unsatisfying. That at the end of it all, there's only one place he'd rather be. And that is his home with the one he loves. "Her" is where his heart is.
We all have a special place in our hearts where we call home. To some, it may not be a place at all but a "someone". A house is just a house. It will not make a "home" if you're heart is not in it. Where one's heart is, is where one's "home" is.
I love this song. "I'm coming back home."
A home is a place you want to go back to. To rest. To be loved. To be accepted and to be cherished.
I listened to this song and can't help but be transported back in time to the days where I was "daddy's little girl". How much I loved and adored my father. Most of the choices I made were with cautious that I don't damage his good name and my mothers. Charlie was a fun and loving man. My entire childhood, thanks to him, was like a season spent playing in a park.
There was one occasion where I was on the brink of being beaten by him. It was my Freshman year in High School and to my surprise, my very first ever boyfriend, who was a Senior made a shocking decision to drop by my house one evening. My parents weren't home and I was the only one home. He was drunk and I desperately wanted to get rid of him before they got home. As a young girl, I was forbidden to take on a "boyfriend". But in my own rebellious teen-age heart, I refused to listen. Not a serious relationship at all. No. It was the "hi" and "hello" type of friendship. Everywhere I go I seem to have a tail following me and that was my little brother or a cousin or my aunt Linda Lahi.
While frantically attempting to get rid of him, my cousin Afu decided at that moment to drop by our house. He was furious when he saw that my boyfriend was over at my house. He immediately ran to find my other male cousins so that they can beat up my boyfriend. Well, I already know what was coming, so I dragged and begged my boyfriend to leave right away. Luckily it was getting dark outside, and not a second too soon, my parents pulled up in the driveway, as my boyfriend was exiting quietly to the back road. The most fortunate thing happened as soon as my parents pull into our driveway. The electricity went out! Oh my Lord that was a sign from Heaven that He was watching over me. That I was probably not going to get beat because the whole village was in pitch darkness. I scrambled towards the farthest living room away from the back of the house where they were going to enter into the house. I heard my father yelping my name: "SEEELLLLAAA where are you?"
Of course they couldn't see a thing and I was far away so I yelled back. "I'm here in the house dad!" He shouted back: "If it weren't for the electricity going out, I'd have belt you right now girl." My male cousins outside the house were running around in search of the boyfriend. Little did they know he was long gone.
The part of the video where she lost her innocence and knew she'd let God down touched me. To some girls, their innocence might be a burdensome thing. They can't wait to get rid of it. But to others that treasures their innocence, once they cross the line, think that they're probably "too far gone". Fortunately, God is a God of forgiveness, goodness, mercy and love. We are never too far gone. He will always love us no matter what and where we are in this life. WE are His children.
What a beautiful and touching song. I feel the same way about my children. Sometimes the choices they make may temporarily dazzle me. But there will always be forgiveness and love in my heart for them. I treasure the short time I have with my children. I see other people that are not part of my family the same way. In this up-our-nose full of contradictions life, there will always be room for forgiveness, love and kindness.
"My chains are gone, I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood, His mercy rains. Unending love, amazing grace."
When I think about these words, I want to flung myself to the ground and weep tears of gratitude and joy. At the same time raise my hands in the air and scream Hallelujah at the top of my lungs! That I, so insignificant and undeserving, have been snatched from the jaws of hell. My sins have been bought and paid for with the blood of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. How, then can I not strive to be the best that I can be. To make a difference for good.
On Sundays I love listening to gospel music. This is one of my favorite old time songs. Except it's slightly a little different from the original arrangement yet when I hear the lyrics it never fails to evoke tremendous gratitude from within. It gets me teary every single time.
Yesterday, I accompanied my nephew Zack on the piano while he sang this song. He is so young and have a beautiful voice and while he sings, I just wanted to cry. I wondered if Zack even realize the words that his mouth utters. How deep and how true it is, that all in all, it will be His MERCY and His GRACE that will save us all. That we may stray so far away to the edge yet his unending love will follow us. He will never give up on us even when we give up on ourselves.
God is great and good. His son Jesus Christ my Savior and Redeemer. He and only He has "ransomed me".
Amazing Grace How Sweet the sound That Saved a Wretch like Me I once was lost but now I'm found Was blind but now I see.
My whole life, I have always be a God loving, God fearing person because I had goodly parents that planted that seed in my heart until I know for myself and see for myself His role in my life and in this life.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine, But God who called me here alone will be forever mine.
I've blogged about Kacey Musgraves in my original blog "Not so over the hill". Totally became a fan when my daughter Sisilia introduced the song to me. That was the "Merry Go Round" song. I introduced the song to my son and then my son introduced me to this song a few months later. "Silver Linings". He has downloaded all Kacey's song and a great fan of her work.
What I love about "Silver Linings" is the same reason why I love "Merry Go Round". You listen to the lyrics and you think, "Man, she's so right."
"Woke up on the wrong side of rock bottom We're all out of pennies and the well is done run dry."
I can't count how many times in my life I've empty out our piggy banks because we ran out of money. Those pennies go to Smith's Coinstar machine and it gets us through to the next day. With gas, with food or laundry. But you know what, it's okay. That is just part of life. And life is always beautiful.
"If you're ever gonna find a silver lining, there's gotta be a cloudy day." This line reminds me of the saying: "Things will get worse before they get better." I have learned to be patient. To endure well and life has taught me to be patient. I hope my kids will eventually learn this important trait, patient. In a generation where everything is at the tips of your fingers and handed to you instantly, you've still got to learn to be patient. Things will come to you, but you've got to wait for it. My daughter screams when her phone doesn't provide what she needs immediately. This reminds of a video my trainer showed us at work. Conan with C.K Louis about cell phones. "You have to wait 'cause it's going out to space and then back!" LOL.
"If you're ever gonna find a four leaf clover, you gotta get a little dirt on your hands." Yes, hard work always pays off. I'm back to a 9-5 job and it's just at the perfect timing. Before when my children were still little, and we needed a little more cash, I'd sit at an office and thought, "Even $100 per hour will not be worth my children's time". I needed to be at their crossroads. So I quit. Found a work from home job and we were home free. The bible always say that a lazy man can not wear a working man's cloth or eat a working man's bread. I didn't mind the raggedy old car and the shabby house. Soon enough I can get those things when my children are grown and gone and I'm back to work full force. Well now I back to the rugged world of 9-5 and out of the house, it feels good and I'm looking forward to nicer things.
"If you want to fill your bottle up with lightning, you gotta have to stand in the rain." "If you want to find a head to fit your shoulder, you've gonna have to go to the dance" "If you wanna find a honey, you can't be scared of the bees." "If you wanna see the forest, you're gonna have to look past the trees."
The arrangement of all her songs are simple but her lyrics are far from that. They are deep and outrageously familiar. She sings about the reality of life. The oppositions that we face on a daily basis and that there's always a "SILVER LININGS". I love Kacey Musgraves' music. I know I'll post more about her and her upcoming songs that I haven't got a chance to hear.
Could this song be more fitting? This evening I found a FB message from my friend Tupou whose son, Sione, was just shot this past weekend, requesting that my daughter Sisilia sings at his funeral. Two songs came to mind. Both by Carrie underwood. "Temporary Home" and "How Great Thou Art". She has until Friday to decide which one she wants to do
It's after three this morning as I awaken to attend the little room, all I could think of was that, here I am peacefully asleep, free of worries or pain. Contend with my life and with my children. And then I think about Tupou. Suffering and grieving for her one and only son Sione. I can not begin to comprehend the pain she must be enduring right now.
My husband went to their home yesterday morning to take food and to give our condolences. He had a chance to talk to Sione's father Haini. The saddest words were spoken by this father:
"All I could think of when I saw Sione lying there was that, "I wish I could have taken his place. I've lived my life and Sione's was just beginning to live his. I wish I could have trade places with him".
He also said that Sione's friends in West Valley were gathering to avenge Sione's death. The shooting itself was gang related and they have already arrested someone. Sadly these are kids of beloved people that our ties goes all the way back to the island. They grow up here in America and instead of resolving to fist fights like we do back in the island, they've adapt themselves to using deadly but cowardly ways of guns where you shoot people in the back and run off to hide instead of manning up to what you've done. The Police are still looking for the rest of the boys that were inside the car. Soon enough they will all be found.
Anyways, Sione's friends thought that Sione's dad would be on the same page with them in revenging Sione's death. Contrary to their thinking, Haini said: "Sione is my son, not yours. If I wanted revenge, I'd do it myself. I can go and take out the whole family if I wanted to by myself. I don't need anyone doing it for me." He then told them to go home to their parents and leave things be. I pray no other lives will be lost through this. There's enough pain going around in the world.
I love Carrie Underwood's song "Temporary Home". The fact that we walk through this life like passing through rooms is in itself amazing. We're just travelers, journeying through this wonder place called earth. Birth, childhood, adolescent, adulthood and then eventually death. This is not a permanent place for us.
No indeed. It is truly our: "Temporary Home".
I believe that our spirit lives on eternally. We will see Sione again soon. Just like, I will see my beloved mother when I die. Death seems so final to those who don't believe. For those who believes, they understand it is not the end. Death to me, is just another door we pass through as we progress within God's great and glorious plan. The Plan of Salvation.
