TME Tuesday: If You Feel Happy

Today's post is going to be a bit different from the usual Tuesday post. It is more of a remembrance and an opportunity for mourning for me rather than an original Therapeutic Music Experience (TME) to share with all of you. I didn't compose this song, I didn't do much to change it, but it was the favorite of a young man who died on Sunday.

The song is simple -

If you feel happy,

If you feel happy,

If you feel happy, smile and sing with me.

La, la, la, la.

La, la, la, la.

La, la, la, la.

La, la, la, la.

It's a simple little ditty. I wish I could put the rest of it up here, but I can't since I am not the copyright owner. The song itself was part of a nursery school curriculum for Vacation Bible School back in the 1980's. I've tried to search for the music, but it's a bit obscure and the company that sold the music originally has been purchased by other companies many times since then. I simply cannot find a record of this song anywhere. If anyone else knows it (that didn't learn it from me, that is), please let me know!!

To make this more of an emotion exploration TME, we change the emotion and the response of the song as well. We also act out every emotion - sobbing, yelling, sleeping, sneezing - you name it, we act it!!

My young man, the one who loved this song, was my client for a very long time. This was the first song he ever sang to me, and I know he learned it from me because I am the only person in the world (that I've found so far) who remembers this song. He's been a part of my music therapy practice for at least 9 years, and I've watched him grow.

The first time he sang this song, he shocked everyone in the room by singing the first phrase in an off-handed way. His paraeducators started to shriek (they had never heard him sing either) and startled him into silence. We celebrated - he was scared by our response. That didn't stop him. In the years since, he has started to sing other songs, but this is HIS song. Every session, he would look at me with a sideways glance, twinkle in his eyes, and start to sing his favorite verses. It started off with "sick" every time (he loved it when I sneezed). Lately he asked for "angry" and "stinky" (his own unique contribution to the song) more than "sick."

The reason for this post is that he died two days ago. It was a tragic accident that was due in part to his impulsivity, part to his difficulty with abstract thought, and part to his joy with running anywhere and not being aware of his surroundings. This song, his song, has been moving through my head non-stop since I heard of his death. I haven't been able to sing it to others yet. It may take me some time before I can use this song in a session again, and I will always think of him when I do in the future.

Hug your loved ones today. Give people compliments when they occur to you. You never know what will happen in a moment, so take advantage of opportunities that occur in your life. 

Sing that song.     

If you feel...