Tag Archives: music

The 4th of July.

Posted on by under Uncategorized

As an American, I celebrated the founding of our country. I marvel at the efforts put for by our founding fathers to create this nation. Our nation is not so different than many others that were founded throughout the ages. Mankind has not changed since the beginning of time. Technology has come a long way, but who we are has not. We live longer because of discoveries, but people are people. All you have to do is to read the history of anybody throughout the ages. And the pattern of who we are will emerge.

The first thing that comes to mind is family. It is the very first institution ever invented, both in mankind and animals. Then there is work to feed yourself and your family, then there is shelter and last but not least is clothing. Our basic needs have never changed. There is an old saying that is true, history repeats itself. Since the beginning, how many times has fathers worried about caring for their family? How many times have mothers been concerned about their families safety?

My son was being deployed to Iraq several years ago. As our family gather with others to see their sons and daughters off to war, I started watching people. Some were laughing, some were crying, some soldiers held their children as I wondered how many times has this gathering occur since this country was founded. As I was watching all the people, a song kept playing in my head. The song was “Johnny has gone for a soldier”. It is a song from the American Revolution.

We may all speak differently, have different origins, believe in different religions and are culturally different. But as a people we are the same. We all have the same desires for family, freedom, being able to provide and protect our families. So, I celebrate this 4th of July by remembering who we are and what was started in this country 400 years.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Blast from the Past, An Observation.

Posted on by under Uncategorized

That Idiom refers to a song from the past. But a song doesn’t mean that it has to be music. I have been recently listening to the music of the 1960’s and 70’s. Some I like and some still turn me off. When I was in high school, I collected all the top songs of the day. Back then they were 45rpm singles with one song on it. I had a hard case to carry the 45 singles around. When I would go to parties, I would bring the case with me to listen to music. If you wanted, you could buy the whole album to listen to. Radio stations would play the music and we would listen and dance. The DJ’s of today came from people playing music back then.

People listen to songs from every different genre. I even like classical music. But the song I am referring to isn’t the music that you hear with your ears. The song I am referring to is the one that you hear with your heart. Everyone grows up wanting to become something. As a kid, we wanted to be firemen or soldiers. Some wanted to doctors or lawyers. But no matter the path we took, we all heard the song that call us to a particular path. That particular song was strong enough in us to motivate us to become whoever.

I have observed that the song in our heart never goes away. It became strong enough in us to choose a path that produce a lifetime of melodies. All along the way in life, people heard our song. Some people agree with our song and some didn’t. But no matter what direction that we took in life, it was our song. The strange thing about that song is that we hear is as strong as it was in the beginning. The blast from the past is our life, our song and our melody. This is just an observation that refers to family, friends, school or work that we orchestrated in our life.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Music for Life.

Posted on by under Uncategorized

Growing up I have always had a natural talent. From a young age, I loved music because I had an ear for music. Then I discovered that I could sing on key. I was in the choir most of elementary and high school. Until my voice changed, I sang soprano. I could even hit high C on the musical scale. When my voice changed, I became a baritone and some times I could sing tenor. My father loved classical music, which I still love to listen to today.

During college, I messed around more than studied and didn’t do so well. I studied communications (radio and television) in college. I served in the military after college. Then I got married. I knew it was time to get serious. I secured a job as a music director for a local Christian radio station. There I listened to all the music. Some music was good and some not so good. What I was listening for was the anointing of God. Most albums had 12 songs on it. Yes, this was before CDs. The music companies wanted me to play their choice of music. As I searched for suitable music for the radio station, I would find one or two songs that had the anointing. The criteria for the station was 1) you had to be able to hear the lyrics, 2) it had to lift up the name of Jesus. The station went from a Southern Gospel to Adult Contemporary Gospel music. Most of the time the music I chose wasn’t what the music company wanted. Sometimes I had go-rounds with their representatives. Our goals where different. What I was trying to accomplish was music that lifted people up to trust and believe God. Hope is a powerful thing. God is the author of music. The angels play music all the time. If they aren’t singing, they are playing music. It has a force all its own. As with all of the things of God, there are two sides, faith and doubt. It is the same sword. It can be used both ways. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. With all the music the angels have, there is one song they can’t sing. It is the song of the redeemed. Only we can sing that song to the Lord and all the angels stop and listen to it.

Music is a powerful instrument. If used in the right way, it can uplift people and soothe the savage beast. There are many different forms of music that can inspire us to greatness. And we know that there is music that can destroy us also. That is why it is so important for us to guard our ears when listening to music.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

As Time goes By.

Posted on by under Uncategorized

There is an old song from a movie called As Time goes By. It is a sad love song that makes me feel lonely. The song talks about 2 people who were in love, but circumstances separated them, in particular WWII. They let time slip away and didn’t appreciate the time that they had together. I see people losing their grip on time through similar situations. It’s not a world war that made them lose time, it was their own fault. We are given a certain amount of time in our life. We can’t get any more time. If you look at your life you will see where you lost time in your life. And that time is gone forever. What is that old expression, you can’t go home again.

We want to believe that we are the models of efficiency. But if we look close at our lives, time is relentless. It doesn’t stop for anyone. Time marches on, until the world runs out of time. So it is up to us to use our time correctly. Only you can determine how to use your time. People can steal your time, if you let them. I guess the most important thing in your life is your time.

My life has gone by in a blink of an eye. I still don’t understand how it has gone by so fast. I have tried to use my time as succinctly as possible. I know that I have wasted some of my time, but I have tried to correct it in the long run. So, what am I saying. It all comes down to what you do with your life. In your hand is everything that you will be or can be. And it is up to you how you spend your time on earth in this life. Use your time as efficiently as possible to have the best result for you.

There are a few song that talk about time and how to use it. The best one that I have heard is an old song by Jim Croce. It is called, Time in a Bottle. I have placed the link below to listen to the song. Enjoy.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com