Song Conversion Sunday: Time To Choose Something New - iPod Edition...

I am sitting here, getting ready for a Song Conversion Sunday post, trying to figure out what to select. Do I go for sheet music? A song book? Nope. Here's the iPod - let's use that to select a song. Turn on shuffle and go to the songs list. Song? Stand By You as performed by Rachel Platten. It's on my Now! That's What I Call Music, Vol. 58 album and is not a song that I've made an effort to listen to before now. My students have never requested it, so it's not something on my radar (or would that be sonar?) yet. Time to change that.

So, now I've pulled up iTunes on the computer. Does anyone else have difficulty with getting iTunes to work on your computer? Mine always stops for horrendously long periods of time and doesn't allow for any type of interaction. It's one of the many things that frustrates me about apple products - they just don't work for me the way I want them to work. Never have.

Anyway - now that iTunes is FINALLY open, I listen to the song for the very first time and record my initial impressions. Strong thematic content - typical pop ballad format - some surprising chord progressions (good, I HATE boring music) - could be a therapy theme - standing by someone during good and bad...Hm. Lyrics - pretty metaphoric - my clients may not get all the imagery present, but that's okay. I wonder what the circumstances were behind the writing of this particular song. I'll have to see if there is a story behind the words and music written by Songwriters: Matthew B Morris / Jack Antonoff / Joy Williams / Rachel Platten. (Good songs always lead me into some exploration to see what is the message behind the song.) 

I can find the sheet music on musicnotes.com, so I should be able to do a graphic organizer analysis pretty easily. 

 As for therapeutic music experience development - this seems to be a good support song - a theme of being there no matter what happens. I wonder what my clients will do with the song - they always take me in places that I am not prepared to go, but that's part of the fun of music therapy. Clients bring so much to the session, don't you think?? (Tongue firmly in cheek here!)

 Okay - the next week will probably include some spotty posts - it's the Online Conference for Music Therapy weekend, so I'll be busy sending out emails, refunding monies for those who miss deadlines, presenting on therapeutic music experiences for use with adolescents, coordinating the CMTE evaluations and certificates, and staying up WAY past my bedtime! This is generally a time of year when my life is taken over by something other than my own interests, so just be prepared.

 I'll stand by you!

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