10 Less-Than-Jolly Songs For Christmas

Sometimes the holidays are wonderful and perfect and picturesque. Sometimes they are heartbreakingly, bone-crushingly painful. The cultural messages we hear don’t leave much room for sadness or anger or grief. The decorations are relentlessly cheery. (In our neighborhood, there’s an electric Santa waving to cars passing by all night long!) The commercials on TV and…

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Two Thomas Dorseys

I have to start this post with a confession. A while ago, I had a music therapy client request the song “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” I had known the song for a while, but when I looked up the lyrics this time around, I noticed that the composer listed was Thomas Dorsey. “Huh,” I…

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Song Spotlight: “If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Got The Time”

If you've got the money - Song Spotlight | SoundscapingSource.com

Mood: Humorous, Spunky Theme: Dating, Enjoying Each Other’s Company, Questionable Motives Tempo: Upbeat Genre/Style: Country Several months ago, when I was visiting my grandfather in the hospital in western Oklahoma, I made a delightful discovery. In this particular moment, Grandpa was in and out of sleep, but Grandma was there, too, along with my mom…

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Song Spotlight: “America the Beautiful”

America the Beautiful - Song Spotlight | SoundscapingSource.com

“America the Beautiful” was first published in 1910 and has remained for more than a century one of our nation’s most beloved patriotic songs. It also has what I think is a beautifully American story. This song has two stories of inspiration and creation: one for the lyrics and one for the music. Although several existing…

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Song Spotlight: “April Showers”

April Showers Song Spotlight | SoundscapingSource.com

Mood: Hopeful Themes: Rain, flowers, happiness Tempo: Moderately slow Genre/Style: 1920s popular song As I write this, it’s yet another rainy day at the end of April. After last summer’s drought, I am glad for the rain, but I am also very ready for springtime to be here in full force. So, the song “April Showers” has been…

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Song Spotlight: “The Hallelujah Chorus”

Hallelujah Chorus - Song Spotlight | SoundscapingSource.com

Perhaps one of the most familiar pieces of classical choral music is the “Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah. We often hear this chorus performed around Easter and Christmas (and sometimes at comical lightbulb moments in movies and sitcoms). The first time I performed the “Hallelujah Chorus” was as a high school freshman playing oboe in the…

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