My song...

We all have at least one...maybe more.  Many if you're like me.  I am referring to songs you cherish and have an emotional connection with.

One of my cherished songs is, "I Wanna Be Free," which probably should come as no surprise.  The song, "Born Free," is also very special to me.  

In fact all the songs I treasure most have to do with freedom, finding a place in the sun, not letting go of hope, going down the highway, or loving someone until the 12th Of Never.

The Rover song by Rod McKuen really is one that speaks for me, with the words below.  The ones in brackets are mine:

I have been a rover,

I have walked alone,

Gone a [thousand] highways

Never found a home,

Still and all I'm happy you see,

For [many] times along the way

Love has been good to me.

Yet the song which speaks for me more than any other song ever, climbed the charts in 1969, when I had just turned thirteen.  The first time I heard "Everybody's Talkin,'" I knew it was MY song.  I embraced it.

"Everybody's Talkin'" was written and composed by Fred Neil, and beautifully sung by Harry Nilsson, used in the movie made the same year, "Midnight Cowboy."

The actual words to "Everybody's Talkin'" are:

Everybody's Talkin at me, 

I don't hear a word they're saying, 

Only the echoes of my mind, 

People stop and stare, 

I can't see their faces, 

Only the shadows of their eyes, 

I'm goin' where the sun keeps shinin' 

through the pourin' rain, 

Goin' where the weather suits my clothes, 

Bankin' off the northeast winds, 

Sailin' on the summer breeze, 

I'm skipin' over the ocean like a stone.

In 1969 my thirteen year old self altered the words just a bit though:

Everybody's talkin at me,

I don't WANT to hear the mean words they're sayin,'"

Of their echoes of hurt in my mind,

People keep stopping and staring,

I don't WANT to see their faces,

Yet I see their scorn in my eyes,

I'm galloping to where the sun keeps shinin'

Through the pourin' rain,

Goin' where my horse and I are free,

Bankin' off the northeast winds

Galloping away on the breeze,

Soaring away forever to be free.

I treasure "Everybody's Talkin" in its original lyrics of course and hold it dearly in my heart.  Yet when I encounter the ever worsening ugliness these days when I must leave home, my thirteen year old version comes again pouring into my mind with deep longing from my heart.🎶🐎💕🐎🎶