Music that Inspires You

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Holidays and music seem to go hand in hand. Is there a song that the lyrics have inspired you? What song would be your theme song?

Edith/Maddie: Listening to Joni Mitchell always inspires me. Any Joni, any era, any song. Her music played a pivotal role in my life from my college days on, with her lyrics and her voice touching me deeply over the decades – they still do.

Liz: I have long been a Goo Goo Dolls addict – it’s going on 30 years now (and wow I feel old when I say that!) As a lover of words, I discovered that band in my late twenties when I heard a song of theirs – and the lyrics were just everything that was in my heart. I was immediately hooked. But my theme song? That changes daily! I love that question too because Stan Connor, my Pawsitively Organic Mysteries protag, had theme songs too. I think currently mine would be Fight Song – Rachel Platten.

Sherry: Even though I asked this question, I’m having a hard time answering it! I think different songs inspire me at different times. I do love Chris Stapleton’s song Millionaire which is about love makes you rich. His voice is so amazing. I love all of his music. As for a theme song, I’ll take the music Miles composes for Iris in the movie The Holiday.

Jessie: What a range amongst us! I love Big Band and Swing music, jazz, and The Great American Songbook in all its forms. I particularly adore Rod Stewart and his version of it. But the music that is my theme song tends to be whatever I am singing myself. I don’t have a lovely voice, but I am forever singing to my kids or my dog like the lead in a musical. I make up silly songs about whatever we are doing, or going to do, or wish we were doing. It probably sounds insane to others, but it just flows out of me unbidden.

Barb: The music that most inspires me is music I associate with an emotional occasion. It can be as big as Bruce Springsteen singing, “My City of Ruins,” at the Tribute to Heroes concert 10 days after 9/11. Or as trivial as Auld Lang Syne at the end of “When Harry Met Sally.” (Or almost any time.)

Readers: Is there a song that inspires you? Do you have a theme song?

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Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

22 Thoughts

  1. I don’t know if any one particular song inspires me. At least not in terms of making me a better person or something.

    Songs that really strike home with me, sure. But given how my taste in music runs in complete opposition to pretty much everyone in the book community, I’m not sure if any can understand why songs like Metal Church’s “Badlands” or Armored Saint’s “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” kick my butt every time I hear them.

    Or if I’m in a bad mood, how Warren Zevon’s “Mr. Bad Example” can make me smile with its lyrical absurdity.

    And more than 2 years after its release, the Illusory album ‘Crimson Wreath’ (all 14 songs) continues to just blow me away each and every time I listen to it.

    There’s a lot more I could say, but perhaps this gives you at least a little insight about what certain songs get me amped up, make me laugh or simply get me psyched up for the day.

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  3. Love all kinds of music, but the oldies always pull me. I do love the group Pentatonix. Never ceases to amaze me with the God given talent of each member in the group. It’s almost like you have to see it to believe your ears that there’s no musical instruments.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  5. I’m not sure if I have a theme song – it really depends on my mood. Right now, I am listening to a lot of Taylor Swift because my niece loves her. I feel like it gives me something to talk to her about. I also think Taylor is a great role model for her. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com (of course this is from an aunt who just realized she’s wearing a tshirt with KISS lyrics on it…;) )

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  6. I love this topic! Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Jimmy Buffett, may he rest in peace, has been an especially strong influence on me for decades.
    With that said, my theme song would be Happily Ever After (Every Now and Then). It’s on his 1996 Banana Wind album and, for me, perfectly captures how important it is to hold onto hopes and dreams in an imperfect world.

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  7. Great topic. Mine varies with mood. As a general rule, Anything by Jimmy Buffet or the Eagles will get my thoughts churning. If I had to pick one – Buffet’s Life is Just a Tire Swing has to rank high.

    Watched Love, Actually last night – Joni Mitchell figured in the storyline.

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  9. How wonderful to read about what music motivates each of you. I love most music that is not rap or heavy metal.I don’t have a particular song or type of music preference. The mood, occasion or season influences what I listen to. I must have a soundtrack to my life, so I am most joyful when music accompanies me. Merry Christmas to all ❣️ Luis at ole dot travel

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  11. I just love music. I was raised on it listening to my father’s 78s and the Big Bands. Then Sinatra and his ilk, movie musicals of all ages (my favorite was “West Side Story” of which I can sing every song to this day as I saw the movie in 1962 seventeen times), soundtracks, the singers from the 1950s, the Beatles (first concert I attended in Houston in 1965) and the bands from the 1960s through 1980s, and Country. It is hard to have a theme song, but at my age it should be “Memories” by Barbra Streisand or “Sitting on the Dock of a Bay” by Otis Redding. I get in the mood to listen to one or another. Lately, it has again been Dan Fogelberg, Van Morrison, Enya, Jackson Brown, Phil Collins (favorite is “In the Air Tonight” turned up full blast and especially in a dark room), Jimmy Buffett, George Strait (“Amarillo by Morning”), Kris Kristoffersen (all of his songs), Dierks Bentley, Damien Rice, Loggins and Messina (“The House at Pooh Corner”), Queen (“Fat Bottomed Girls” is a favorite though the woke are getting it taken off their albums), “I Will Survive” when it is sung in the jail scene in “The Replacements,” “Pretty Purple Snowflakes” by Jessie Baylin in a TCM ad, Elvis, Matchbox Twenty (“Unwell”), and Elton John. I could go on, but this would turn into a novella then. No Heavy Metal. No Taylor Swift. No Queen Bee. No Rap. So many of these new singers are not my cup of tea nor or their concerts. No Lady Gaga unless it is her singing the old songs. Though I did love Amy Winehouse’s “I Say No, No, No.!”

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  13. Different music inspires me at different points in my life. In my late teens I played Carole King’s Tapestry album constantly, other female folk singers also provided inspiration including Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Laura Nyro. Kiri te Kanawa is always inspiring, along with Ella Fitzgerald, I love listening to their Gershwin stylings. Instrumental music is best as a background for writing or studying, my favorites are George Winston, James Galway and Peppino D’Agostino. Two albums that always inspire are Zero Church by Suzzy & Maggie Roche and Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth by Cindy Bullins.

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