Thank You For The Music - ABBA

Hello!

Thanks for being here and for reading and listening. Here is my cover of Abba’s "Thank You For The Music," written by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus in 1977.  It’s not perfect (more on that below), but it's a snapshot of my music in one moment in time that I hope you'll enjoy.

"Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me"

If you happened to notice that this lyric sounds a bit clunky or unnatural in the chorus, it’s because of a mis-stressed syllable in the phrase “I ask in all honesty.” The word honesty should have its first syllable stressed, but because of the way the lyrics are set it ends up sounding like “honesTY” with the emphasis on the final syllable. This kind of thing drives me crazy, but in this case I can overlook it because I really like the song :) Its simple message of gratitude for the joy of music speaks to me, and evidently tons of other people- it has been covered countless times and included in a stage musical.

So it’s not a perfect lyric, and my performance of it is imperfect. What is perfection anyway? Who decides? Perfection is completely subjective, and it's subject to change over time. I'm learning that if we are always seeking perfection, we may miss appreciating and celebrating all the things that are good along the way. I like what Voltaire had to say on this topic, and I have written it down as a reminder to myself and posted it on the wall near my piano.

If you'd like to read a more eloquent and thorough exploration on how perfection can really get in our way, here is a link to an article by Dr. Alex Lickerman: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-in-world/201106/why-perfect-is-the-enemy-good

Oh, and the similarity between this song title and the name of my blog is no coincidence. I'd been singing and playing a lot of ABBA when I began to formulate ideas for this blog :) 

-Kate