And did you make the decision yourself? Or was it made for you? Did you wake up with a song in your head? Was it in a dream?
I'm not talking about the twenty second snippet you used for your alarm this morning. Or even that flash of song that came up during a segment on Sunrise or the ABC news. Not that song that was halfway through when you got into the car and switched your radio on either.
The first full song that started your day. What was it? Do you remember?
Did you wake up wanting to hear a particular track? Was it in your head when you got out of bed? Did you know what you wanted to hear? Did you run your thumb over the wheel of your iPod looking for it? Or did you pull a record out?
The first song I heard today was Sting's Shape Of My Heart from his 1993 album Ten Summoner's Tales. I opened up Spotify on my phone and looked through the six Daily Mixes on offer for the day. I could have picked a song by Elbow or Eels or Blur or Jackson Browne or Catatonia or Fleetwood Mac or Flaming Lips or Amy Winehouse or The Style Council, but the Sting song caught my eye.
It's a great song. I like the usage of the four card suites in the lyrics. It's easy to listen to. Not too intrusive, but quite engaging at the same time. I think it started my day off pretty well. The family came and had breakfast and everyone seemed to be in good form.
What if a different song had kicked off my morning? What if was too sad, or just too noisy for that time of the day? What if my song choice caused an argument? But, what if it went the other way? What if the song was so infectious and groovy that everyone had to dance when they got into the kitchen?
It's only a song, but your first one can pull an awful lot of threads.
I love music.
