I Love "Home"

It's "sentimental slob" morning for me.  Actually, there are rare days for me when the sentimental slob syndrome does not kick in.  

I'm an admitted "SS," and I refuse to attend a 12-step program to get over my lifelong affliction.

Most people probably think of me as a hard-nosed, confident old goat with a thick outer shell.  Those people don't know me.

I cry easily when something moves me, often hiding my face so nobody else sees that inside the rough exterior is a pretty fragile being. 

Little things at times and big events other times move me in a way that I can't describe.  I feel confident that I'm among many friends in the "quiet-crying, teardrop, goose-bump"  department.

I sneaked a lot of peeks at the TV news last January when Gabrielle Giffords and all those innocent people were shot at that shopping mall in Arizona.  The event was emotionally paralyzing and heart-wrenching, like so many others we've witnessed over our lives. 

Since that time, Gabrielle Giffords has become a hero to many in this country with her determination to stand against the odds, her continued positive outlook and her wonderful sense of humor.

If there were a famous person from 2011 I'd like to meet, it would be Gabby, hands down. 

In addition to dramatic life events, certain songs move me to tears or to a "broken-record" state of mind where I play the song over and over until it's plugged permanently into my mental music storage compartment. 

For example, there's the song "Kodachrome," reminding me of gathering of more than 3,000 students and teachers inside a hotel ballroom in San Francisco back in 1981.  I attended my first national journalism convention there as adviser to our yearbook.

The convention ended with a glitzy slide show of convention activities with hundreds of images flashing and accompanied by the fast-paced lyrics of "Kodachrome." 

Every time I hear that song, I virtually stop what I'm doing to listen and reflect on that wonderful event spent with students who have remained close friends. 

Other songs are stored from over the years for various reasons, some sad, some very uplifting. 

Most recently, I glued my attention to Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me."  The first time I ever heard its lyrics, they hit home---no pun intended.  I'm sure my reaction was pretty universal, since the "The House That Built Me" won song of the year. 

Of late, a new Country number has found a place deep within my heart and forever in my mental music cache. 

It's a Dierks Bentley number called "Home."  After tuning in and listening closely two or three times, I decided to purchase whatever CD it's on.

Well, I purchased two CD's, figuring maybe the name of the song was a little different from what I thought.  Turns out it's definitely called "Home," and the CD is not due out until February.

No problem.  Dierks Bentley puts out great music, so I feel no loss.

After doing some research on line, I learned more about the song and was pleasantly surprised. 

Talk about weaving two meaningful entities together:  I learned that Dierks and his buddies wrote the song after the Gabrielle Giffords tragedy.  

Knowing this seals the deal for me.  "Home" will have a permanent place in my mental music collection.  

Some people call it an anthem.  I pretty much figure, like "The House That Built Me," this inspiring piece is headed for song of the year as well as remaining a classic for decades to come.  

I love when songs like this appear on the scene.  A gifted musician has captured the thoughts, emotions and hopes of a vast segment of our population.

Thank you, Dierks Bentley

So, this morning I'm including the embed from a You-tube video, and if you haven't heard this piece, I hope you like it.

The lyrics:  

                                                             Home

West, on a plane bound west
I see her stretchin’ out below
Land, Blessed Mother Land
The place where I was born
Scars, yeah she’s got her scars
Sometimes it starts to worry me,
‘Cause lose, I don’t wanna lose
Sight of who we are


From the mountains high
To the wave-crashed* coast
There’s a way to find better days I know
It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

Free, nothing feels like free
Though it sometimes means we don't get along
Cause same, no we're not the same
But that’s what makes us strong

From the mountains high
To the wave-crashed coast
There’s a way to find better days I know
It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

Brave, gotta call it brave
to chase that dream across the sea.
Names, then they signed their names
For something they believed
Red,how the blood ran red
We laid our dead in sacred ground
Just think, wonder what they'd think
If they could see us now

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
It’s been a long hard ride
And I won't lose hope
This is still the place
That we all call home.

                                                           

                                                         ---Dierks Bentley