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Another Birthday, Another Song and Another Bear

I didn’t plan on sharing another song or bear story with you this year for my birthday… it just worked out that way.  At first, I didn’t even realize that I had written about a bear last year until I went through my archives and found my post from last year “Birthdays and Bears… Oh My!” simply because I was looking for my song post “Pretty Much Sums it Up”.  This year the bear cub was, luckily, just past my house on the highway, but they are really neat to see around.

 

As I wrote above, I hadn’t planned on writing another lyric post, especially not for my birthday, but I won’t deny signs.  Last night, just before I was going to bed, I was feeling kind of bummed about my birthday, nothing big, just a little melancholy and for some reason I turned my TV to GAC, not something I do as I am actually about to crawl into bed.  It had just turned midnight a video came on… one that I hadn’t seen before and I was about to turn it off when the beginning lines sang out “Blowing out the candles/ On another birthday cake …” That intrigued me,  so I sat, watched and listened and by the time the video ended tears were streaming down my face and I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.  Hopefully I can figure out how to share the video here.  The song is called “My Best Days are Ahead of Me” performed by Danny Gokey and written by Kent E Blazy and Marv Green. 

My Best Days are Ahead of Me Lyrics

Blowing out the candles
On another birthday cake
Old enough to look back

And laugh at my mistakes

Young enough to look at the future

And like what I see

My best days are ahead of me

Life hasn't always been a party
But mostly it's been good
There's only one or two things

That I'd change if I could

I don’t get lost in the past

Or get stuck in some sad memory, yeah

My best days are ahead of me

Age ain't nothing but a number
Sometimes I have to wonder
What does it really mean?

But hey, I’m still putting it together
I keep getting better, if I keep getting better

I can be whatever I want to be
My best days are ahead of me

Age ain't nothing but a number
Sometimes I have to wonder
What does it really mean?

But hey, I’m still putting it together
I keep getting better, if I keep getting better

I can be whatever I want to be
My best days are ahead of me

I've got sunsets to witness
Dreams to dance with
Beaches to walk on
And lovers to kiss

There's a whole lot of world out there
That I can't wait to see
My best days are ahead of me
My best days are ahead of me

 

Have a great day!

Merry Music

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the music that permeates everything.  I don’t really like to hear Christmas carols before Thanksgiving, but after the dinner has been put away, it’s all fair game. 

 

When I was a child my parents had very little in terms of entertainment around the house, like books, movies and music.  There was a small bookshelf that contained mostly animal and handyman encyclopedias and a smattering of other books.  Musically they still had 8-tracks, maybe a dozen or so and that was limited to a couple of Elvis Presley’s, a Willie Nelson, a Vern Gosdin and a few other artists; more than likely those 8-tracks were Country and Western artists and I write Country and Western because at that time Country music went by its full name.  In addition to that vast collection of music there was a green and white striped box kept in a closet that contained a mix of long-playing record albums.  These records were not Country, because Daddy didn’t own any of them, and only a few not geared towards kids.  If my memory serves me correct, there were only three that weren’t children’s records: Madonna’s self-titled debut album, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Do it Debbie’s Way, a Debbie Reynolds’s exercise album.  

 

As for the kid’s albums there were a couple of story book LPs but my favorite were the two Christmas records.  One was this one from Arthur Godfrey titled All I Want for Christmas.

 

Then there was the other album, although I don’t remember the name of it, but it was filled with a large number of children’s Christmas songs and carols including “Donde Esta Santa Claus”.  Thinking back now, I realize how annoying it must have been to have to listen to these records over and over again, but that’s all in the spirit of the season.

 

What’s on your playlist?

The Stars Align for Cheyenne Jackson

Cheyenne Jackson is a local boy (well local for where I live now) who has not one, not two, but three major career building moves going on at once.  Cheyenne is currently starring in Broadway’s “Finian’s Rainbow” that opened to rave reviews from audiences and critics alike, he has a new CD with Michael Feinstein entitled “The Power of Two” and he has a recurring role on NBC’s “30 Rock”.

 

Cheyenne was first put on my radar when I begin working with his mom Sherri just days after moving up here.  We chitchatted about all things pop culture: movies, television shows, and music, finding out that we had a lot of favorites in common and that’s when she opened up a website and showed me a photo of an incredibly handsome fellow.  After I remarked how good looking he was and inquired about him she told me that it was her son, Cheyenne.

 

We talked about his career, mostly theater at that time, but that he was getting auditions for movies and his big movie, United 93, had just been released that spring.  What’s funny was that he was actually filming the movie Hysteria then, but it was a big hush-hush at the time and now according to imdb.com it is now completed but without a release date.

 

Since then I have kept up with his career and have enjoyed watching him on some of my favorite shows like The Mentalist, Lipstick Jungle, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty and now 30 Rock.

 

I purchased a couple of MP3 downloads from his new CD and they are magnificent.  Even though I knew that I would enjoy this CD, because I enjoy Cheyenne’s voice and the songs are some of my favorites, I love that with technology I can preview a CD or purchase a song here and there.  So far this is one that I have moved to my wish list and know a few others who would enjoy it as a stocking stuffer.

 

I look forward to seeing what is in the future for Cheyenne.  Many cheers and well wishes to this fabulous man; I know he makes his mama proud.