Whenever I See..

For a guy who doesn't have the greatest taste in music, and/or lacks the desire to put the time and effort into discoverying the next great thing, I hold on to one man, one shining star.


James Taylor.


I don't know how it happened, but he found his way into my cd player in high school. And he never left. His rythm is soothing, melodies grooving, and his words move the soul.


There was one song that grabbed me from first listen. Now I don't know how most people experience music, but for me, it transends my mind. By that I mean, I usually don't cognitively grasp most of the words of a song, but somewhere inside my soul I connect with what is being said, played, and experienced through the music. The song that entered me was Smiling Face.

Whenever I see your smiling face

I have to smile myself,

because I love you

It became the song I sang along to, the song I listened to when I was happy, and the song I wanted to listen to when I was down.


And then I started dating this girl. And she had the most amazing smile, and an even more joyful laugh. And the words of the song started to become clearer.


What James was singing about I was beginning to experience. And I entered into the song. I entered into the story we had been singing about for the past 7 years.


Whenever I saw her, I couldn't stop smiling.


Whenever I heard her laugh, I saw a joy eternal, and I tasted it.


To see my love smile, could only create joy in my soul.


The words become clearer as we enter into the story. The song is always inside. We move to the beat. We make up the words. We push repeat.


And then we sing. The song of Love is beautiful.


benjamin