Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Review of the Top 10 Songs for Change

Music. It makes the world go ‘round. In reality, haunting or jaunting lyrics reflect the living of life, year by year, decade by decade. Having rocked, swayed, attempted to sing (with no talent whatsoever in that realm), danced and listened to music for six decades, I can see clearly now the reflection of music in our times.

Musicians just have a way of capturing the feelings we either hope to push aside, need to heed, or simply want to celebrate quietly via internalization or with some impetus to share, shout or sing it out to the masses. Or, at least with friends.

To be honest, I more often than not forget to pay attention to who is singing something I like. That is, unless they are so well-known that anyone with an ear for music would know the performer. In my case, that likely means it is someone from my heyday or thereabouts. Although I do like to think I’ve somewhat kept up, at least through maybe the 2000s. Maybe.

I’m sure that admission means I can’t claim any real musical cred. I was somehow paying attention this week when I watched a clip by a DJ named Eric Rhodes. Tell me he’s famous, I have no idea. But DJ Rhodes composed a list of the Top 10 Songs for Change. That caught got my attention.

“You may say I'm a dreamer / But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us / And the world will be as one” - Imagine by John Lennon, 1971

If there is a person alive that doesn’t know John Lennon’s song, well, they certainly aren’t from my generation. Number 1 on the list, Imagine speaks softly but powerfully to a world that was staring down Viet Nam. It remains timeless.

As a matter of fact, several of the songs on this list for change were released in 1971 or during that timeframe. Obviously, a tumultuous time in America.

“Mother, mother / There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother / There's far too many of you dying” - What’s Going On? by Marvin Gaye, 1971

“Now I've been happy lately / Thinkin' about the good things to come / And I believe it could be / Something good has begun” - Peace Train by Cat Stevens, 1971

Not on DJ Rhodes’ list but equally powerful is David Bowie’s 1971, Changes:

Ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange) / Ch-ch-changes..."

Who doesn’t recognize number 2 on the Top 10 list of Songs for Change:

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror / I'm asking him to change his ways..."

Michael Jackson’s 1988 hit pleaded for self-awareness with a call for individual action to “make the world a better place.”

The fact that I can even say I’ve heard six decades of music is strange to me. The music of my life, the songs I cherish may well be significantly different from your list.

And yet there seem to be some universally understood songs and lyrics that we can all name in just a few notes. Songs that reflected the angst of our times. Songs that gave us joy, made us dance, remind us of loves found and lost, of family ties and heart breaks. Those songs bring us back to a world that looks different, yet very much the same as today.

After six decades of music, isn’t it strange that so much of the past’s lyrics are still relevant today?

Ch-ch-ch-changes, turn around and face the strange…

Who or what is Sixty Sisters? We’re here to support women in life’s sixth decade by sharing our collective knowledge on health, wealth and connectedness. I’m Lorraine, the 60-something orchestrator of the gig. I live in South Carolina where we recently launched an in-person Sixty Sisters. Join the band (hey, I’m milking every bit of the musical theme today.) Talk to me about starting a group in your area!

“If you only have love for your own race / Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate / And when you hate then you're bound to get irate” - (both) Where is the Love? by Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake, 2003