My Life in Song! The Songs of My Life!

I have always wished that my life was a musical, but here is what it would look like if it was… These are songs that inspire/describe/tear me apart and dissect my soul!

His Eye is on the Sparrow: Sung by Lauryn Hill andTanya Blount

This song is not only my favorite Hymn but along with several little girls in the 90s I LOVED the Sister Act movies!! My sister and I used to watch this with one of our friends and we would always have specific songs that we were better at singing… This was one of mine. Later in my life when I was a music major and really trying to figure out my reasons for singing and why I felt like that was an important thing in my life, I sang this song. I realized that singing was literally a reflex for me, it was how I worship how I understand life and how I best communicate.

I So Hate Consequences: By Reliant K
Most of my high school years are marked with Reliant K songs. And yes they have some really hilarious and pithy songs that will stay with all of us… but have you listened to the lyrics? They are complex and hard hitting!!! This is one of those songs that always kicked my butt!!

Your Love Broke Through: By Keith Green      This is one of those songs… I remember discovering this song because it was on Rebecca St James' greatest hits album…She sang it with Phil Keaggy…another one of my favorite artists… And my mom told me how it was the song she listened to over and over when she received Christ in college. I think I put it on repeat and listed to nothing else for like a week! Its one of the only songs that I think explains how I feel about what Jesus did for me!

Wie Melodien Zieht es Mir: By Johannes Brahms and Sung by Edith Wiens
This one may seem strange for many…The first time I sung this piece was my Junior year of high school… I sang it for Solo and Ensemble Competition and then at my All-State Honor Choir Audition! I remember that audition very vividly, I was so nervous, but I started singing and the judge just stopped writing and leaned forward in his chair and listened to me so intently. Right then and there I knew that is what I wanted to do…. I wanted to bring that kind of joy to people's faces. Its such a beautiful piece and the lyrics talk about how music haunts our soul! I have used this piece for every major classical audition! It reminds me why I love singing

This Side: By Nickel Creek

This song is from my favorite band and I just feel like it describes me and who I want to be…It's a song about looking at life differently and finding wonder in the world! Here's one of my favorite lyrics!

"You dream of colors that have never been made,
You imagine songs that have never been played.
They will try to buy you and your mind.
Only the curious have something to find."

Hoppipolla: By Sigur Ros
If you don't know Sigur Ros… LISTEN TO THIS SONG… and then GO LISTEN TO MORE!!!! Their video project is AMAZING!!!

This song is about jumping into puddles in your bare feet!!!….Its beautiful!! And it puts my view of life in to one song…life is short, love is lasting, God is good and everyone should realize their worth..and how small they are…let yourself be loved, let yourself live and let God be bigger than you!!! Go play in the rain!!!!!!



"Hello, Young Lovers" From the King and I By Rogers and Hamerstein
This was one of the first songs I sang at the University of Oregon for an Opera Workshop Class… I really didn't know much opera yet and wanted to sing some lighter classical musical theatre… I got up to sing and my Prof. proceeded to go off on how he did not think that this was an appropriate song for an 18 year old to sing and was not a fan… I was mortified and so scared… but I was determined to sing my heart out and prove that I should be there…I sang the song and the first thing out of my Professor's mouth was "I stand corrected…That was beautiful!" The role of Anna is been a life long dream for me…I am very drawn to stories of lost love and stories of unrequited love. And this song is one of the most beautiful moments of musical theatre expressing the contentment of life and love lost! For me I have not had that love yet… but it is my hope but I know that I am content with what God has given me …even if I have not fully experienced that greatness of love in my life YET!

"The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michelson

This is one of those songs that currently I have very mixed feelings about…. When it first came out and before anyone knew who this Ingrid Michelson chick was…. I was obsessed…I listened to it over and over to memorize it and it was what I saw as how I wanted someone to love me…. I wanted someone to love me the way I am… with all the crazy still attached! In this last year I very briefly dated a man who really made me feel accepted and that he loved all of me, all my crazy and he was very encouraging to everything I was and wanted to be…. Besides the fact that he always called me "Baby"… I always thought that a strange term of endearment… but when he said it…. It was adorable and I loved that he was so protective and he fawned over me… WELL…..This was kind of the "our song" … he didn't know it before but he always asked me to sing…and I used to always sing it to him! 

LO AND BEHOLD… we broke up… and he ended up kinda being a JERK!!!! So there is that…. This song is still a little painful… but it still describes that moment when you think that you have found someone that really does get you…. Weird terms of endearment are suddenly heart melting and the most wonderful part of your day…. That person accepts the crazy that is you!!!!