Family Playlist

This past Sunday as I drove to church I listened to an interesting segment on the Weekend Morning Edition  about how to pick the right songs for a wedding. This was probably the most frivolous segment of the show, and it impacted me the most. I am going to own the fact that finding the formula for the best wedding music is more intriguing to me than some of the world news right now. That's just where I'm at.

NPR's Stephen Thompson argued the need for quality wedding music. Amen. We have all been to weddings that could have been taken to the next level, could have lasted a little longer, could have had more impact on us if only the music flowed better. I am all for being taken on a musical journey during a wedding. I tend to enter wedding sites with the expectation of being swept away emotionally - the music has a huge part to play in that. I want things to start off slow and sentimental, work into some poignant reflection, and then lead me onto a vibrant dance floor that makes me mad at the newlyweds when they decide to close down the party by leaving. This seems like a simple wish for weddings. No pressure, my single friends.

Stephen's anatomy of what makes great wedding music was not the most intriguing part of his argument, though, albeit completely validating and interesting that NPR would like to explore such a thing. What has been playing through my head the past few days was Stephen's passion to have a family song. It was not even enough for him to have a family song, he wanted a specific song that his children would be so attached to that they would insist on having it in their weddings. He was adamant about passing down music, and embedding certain songs into his children's' lives.

Over the years John and I have fallen into some songs that are "our" songs and our family songs. A few songs from The Head and The Heart have become ingrained in our family, mainly because Grayson insists on listening to them on repeat. The repetition is worth it to hear Grayson belt out the lyrics as Lu tries to get a few words out.

I don't what to put pressure on my children to attach so much to certain songs that they will love them as much as I do. I believe that some family songs will take shape organically, but I think we may also start to be a little deliberate about incorporating repetition to songs that would be good candidates for family songs.

Here is the number one song for Stephen and his family. It's kind of a mantra.

Do you have any family songs? What would be on your family playlist?