Tuesday, October 30, 2007

if you listen


you can hear, birds sing and flowers grow. if you listen you can hear, my love for you just grow.

Elizabeth Mitchell sings a song, on Gillian and my favorite album of late, that makes me tear up every time. On the way home from Madison was no exception.

We love singing along to music in the car. Gilly gets a sort of ga-ga look in her eye when the CD changer finishes one of my albums (usually some old school Marley circa Catch a Fire, Wagner, or a kid friendly Beck album...anyone else love Guero?!...all of which she will happily sing along with), and, surprisingly, starts Elizabeth's Little Bird .

On Sunday, we sang through most of the album, and, when we arrived at 'if you listen' (I first heard this song, sung by Francoise Hardy, in high school. Mitchell does a fantastic rendition), Gillian commented, "I've been singing this all week in my head!"

My goodness, that's nice to hear! Me too!

So, we both sang along. Me choking down tears (it's the lyrics, man! They just GET me!) and her singing to the fairies that we passed on the road.

If you've got an interest in folk that's a little bit salty, pick up this album. Your kids will thank you for it. So will I.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Life is really about those special moments isn't it?

Happy Halloween!

. . . said...

I love those moments in the car, with or without music, when I connect with one of my children. It's different in the car somehow, with the rest of life blowing past our windows. We're together in that car (for better or worse) and going in the same direction, which tends to give those extra special moments even more poignancy. I would venture to guess that Gillian is going to love that song when she is a grown woman!

Unknown said...

salt + folk = the best combination EVER.

hope you are having an excellent friday, dearie.

*

kalurah said...

oooooh.....that song...
I went to the NPR link and If You Listen is my favorite!
why does it make me grin from ear to ear and make me begin to cry at the SAME time!!!???
maybe, it's like parenthood...bittersweet.
what makes you happy and thankful is also what breaks your heart at the same time!
thank you so much for sharing this.
I LOVE it! and I will definitely be sharing it with my little ones.
:)

. . . said...

i'm back for *another* comment because we just downloaded this album and have been listening to it all weekend. love, love, love it.

Mariajaan said...

Hello. I would recommend a very recent discovery: By Jaan Kross an Estonian author that deserves no less than a Nobel Price. The book is easy to read, enlightening and really interesting. The name: The Czar`s Madman. A more common choice from the shelves of south American literature: Grabriela Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado. Sensual, rich, entertaining, and even easier to read. I hope you consider reading these choices. All the best! MariaC.

Bethany said...

Excellent! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it!

Bethany said...

MariaC,

Nice to meet you!
Thanks for the book recommendations!
I'll be looking into them...
My husband will appreciate these as well. He is fascinated by South American culture and literature.

P.S. You've got a great blog! I'm going to get out my Spanish-English dictionary and figure out what you're saying...A good challenge for me! On the meantime, I'll just enjoy your beautiful pictures.

Take care!

Sarah said...

What a great tip on Elizabeth Mitchell! I just spent about 20 minutes poking around her site listening to music samples. I'm DEFINITELY going to buy her stuff. I love music that both mom and kids can sing along to and love together.

I love your site - and Gillian's site is really cute too! Does she decide what she wants you to post on it? And do you alter your photos to give them that brown/aged quality? Sorry, lots of questions but the feel around this place is great!