What’s a song that changed your life?
This is an asked and answered question many times, so allow me to meander.
Much of Barry Manilow’s work resonates with me because he has had a hard life emotionally. Abandoned by his father. Gay when he knew his career would be cancelled instantly if it came out. Probably the tip of the iceberg if human experience is anything to go by.
It made me feel that I wasn’t alone in my emotional struggles, and that made it okay. If he could struggle and do what he was doing, I could certainly do something.
I didn’t have to let the world around me define me, I could be more than my family background.
So what is it a song about a song? The lyrics, the music? The song you were listening to when you met the one? The song that got you through your degree? The one that calmed your baby to sleep?
There are so many ways that music can change your life. Maybe this is why.
A Universal Language
The words I love
are carried on a wave of sound
I understand those words
appreciate them
but the music carries them
adds to them
Fills them out and enfolds them
and me
The words wouldn’t make me dance
however lyrical they may be
It has to be the sound
Some songs don’t touch you
yet other change you
They become the repository for memories
returning them to you
every time a particular song plays
Taking you back to a special moment
“I will always love this song”
you say
Words reach the ears
music flows into the body
The vibration moves you
Travelling through every cell
Returning memories locked in the notes
This is how music changes your life
It flows straight through the heart
to your soul
and becomes your eternal story
Deb Hawken
2026
Best love and smiles
Amorah Deb
