ha ha ha...

I thought this would be an easy letter to deal with, but turns out I don't have a lot of favorites with H, well, that's not true, I have two songs that fit the bill that are in my top ten favorite songs ever...so I guess you get to hear about them (even though many of you know them already).  Without more adieu, I give you H.

Hallelujah

If you don't think this song is a story, well, think again.  It is so many stories wrapped up together, it can't help but touch most listeners somehow (I would venture a claim that those who can listen without being somehow touched are rather stone inside, just sayin').

I came up on the k.d.lang version of this song at a particularly dark point in my life, and it carried me, and in its own way, gave me peace and comfort.  The writer of the song, when he heard lang perform it, said that her version was the ultimate performance of it.  I tend to agree.

Give it a listen.

Hey Jude

This is my favorite Beatles' song, and as I said above, also one of my top ten favorite songs ever.  The funny thing is, the story I hear in it is vastly different than the one most of my Beatles-loving friends hear.  And, I found out, very different from the original inspiration.

What I hear in this story is a young man who is afraid to love, and yet there is love there for him to take.  This man tends to turn things to the worse, but he doesn't have to. The singer is encouraging him to pick love, to not fear it.  The singer is telling Jude that this is his destiny, and that love can save him.  How can I not melt at that?

Fun note: I am very drawn to such stories--another song, Desperado, has similar themes, and that one in my all time favorite song.