Writing Assignment – Day 3
Writing Assignment – Day 3
Three Songs of Personal Significance – June 4, 2014
This assignment has been a real challenge for me. I had to reflect back, do some serious thinking as there were so many songs that I loved in my youth and then writing for 30 minutes. The more I thought about the topic, the more convinced I became, that the songs that have been with a person for a long time are the ones that, that person would choose.
My first song of choice goes to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. It is one song that makes me want to get up to dance and sing. It is also one song that both of my daughters love and they are in the 40’s age bracket. Both have been to Neil Diamond concerts and I think they find it hard to believe that even their parents relate to this song. I have a CD of Neil Diamond and there is nothing sweeter than to hear Sweet Caroline come over our home speaker system at a jacked up volume. Not only is the singing marvelous but the orchestration is second to none. Sweet Caroline is classed as a soft rock which was officially released as a single in 1969. J.F. Kennedy’s daughter, at the age of 11 years, was the inspiration for the creation of this song. Neil Diamond then sang it to her on her 50th birthday celebration in 2007. In a 2011 interview, Neil Diamond said that a magazine cover photo of Caroline Kennedy as a young child with her parents in the background, created an image in his mind and the rest of song just came together. Just think about how many years this song has survived as it has been and continues to be popular at sporting events, especially baseball and football games.
The second song that I am going to identify is Unchained Melodies. It is a kind of sing-a-long type of song and every time I hear it, I want to sing-a-long as well. This song dates back to 1955 when it was originally written by Alex North and Hy Zaret. They were originally contracted to write a song as a theme for the prison film ‘Unchained’ but the word unchained never made it into the lyrics. It was nominated for an Oscar in 1955 but it was Love is a Many Splendor Thing that actually won. It is the 1965 version of Unchained Melodies by the Righteous Brothers that I know and love…………. as it played over the jukebox in the corner cafe.
My third song choice in How Great Thou Art. It is a Christian hymn which was often sung during the Sunday service which I attended as a child with my parents. It was one of those songs with which I grew up and which continues to capture me emotionally as an adult. It is a God-honouring song which turns Christian eyes toward God. I recall hearing it being sung by Burl Ives, Elvis Presley, Roy Rogers and now more recently by Carrie Underwood. How Great Thou Art dates back to the 1800’s, originating out of Sweden but then being adopted, translated into many languages and used in many parts of Europe. It is timeless and I’m sure it will be heard by many generations to come.
