Chicago Skyline

The Chicago skyline at sunrise. Click Continue to see image…

The love that got away or when it's not meant to be

Did you sleep last night and do you remember dreams?
Do I ever cross your mind and do you ever think of me?
When you think about your life are there things you would reverse?
I still remember holding you, just out of sight of her
In the deep, dark parking lot pressed up against my car
With your hands around my neck I felt the pounding of your heart

The Gaslight Anthem - Mulholland Drive

This is my favorite song off of the album Handwritten. The music and lyrics set the mood perfectly. There’s always one that gets away. There are lots of reasons why good relationships don’t last. Sometimes you are in the right place, but at the wrong time. This is the juxstaposition of memories; it might be a sad event, but all of the good memories around it make you smile.

As a bonus tonight, there is a second set of lines from the song that I also find very powerful…

And I can still recall the hour when you first let down your walls
I thought I might’ve died right there floating up above it all
But it scared you love, to need someone, so you killed it all instead

The Gaslight Anthem - Mulholland Drive

Without the music it doesn’t quite do the song justice. Maybe I’ll come back and post an audio clip…

Summertime and young love

Those crazy nights, I do remember in my youth
I do recall, those were the best times, most of all
In the heat with a blue jean girl
Burnin’ love comes once in a lifetime
She found me singing by the rail road track
Took me home, we danced by moonlight

Journey - Stone In Love

I love to think back to my summers growing up in Chicago Heights. Great friends, great times! Music was always a big part of it, too. One summer, I got to see Journey three times in a two-month span. Isn’t young love grand? There is so much more this memory brings, but I’m not ready to share it all yet. Gotta leave some for future posts…

Old school -- written by hand

And we waited for sirens that never come
And we only write by the moon, every word handwritten
And to ease the loss of youth and how many years I’ve missed you
Pages plead forgiveness, every word handwritten

The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

I’m not sure why this verse appeals to me so much. I guess it is because it seems so pure and honest to write something by hand. I don’t consider myself a “writer”, I’ve been know to pen a letter, but it’s been many years since I wrote anything by hand. I’m a geek; I use a keyboard.

Savor every moment

Let’s pretend our days are numbered
And live them out
We’ll live them in the order given
By those who gave them out
Because there is no… reason to run
There is no reason to run

The Inventors - Beehive

The Inventors are rising stars out of Chicago. They are a very tight 4-man band with intelligent lyrics. This song is off their 2015 EP The Procedure Room. It’s my favorite song on the EP and I just love the opening verse. I’ll admit I have some bias, my son Grant used to be the drummer and appears on this EP, but these guys are AWESOME!

Not the typical Santana song

When you just wanna feel good
Like the doctor said
One good dose of loving
It’s gonna straighten out your head

You got an open invitation
On that you can rely
You got a prepaid reservation
And that’s the only way to fly

Santana - Open Invitation

There are a lot of Santana songs more popular than Open Invitation, but this is one of my favorites; reminds me of days long past. For me, this song represents that person who may come and go throughout your life, but will ALWAYS be welcomed back. They have an “open invitation” to return at anytime.