Songs of the Season

As most who know me could tell you, I love music. Music moves me like nothing else, and I am always singing to myself whether it's out loud or just in my head. In all the silent hours of this training season that I have had to myself, I have found that music always keeps me company and keeps me moving. Here are a few songs that always make their way into my head's rotation:

When I swim, I always think of a Raffi song that I learned as a child called "Baby Beluga." The song's full lyrics escape me, and I find myself repeating the same lines over and over.



"Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above, and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.

Oh Baby Beluga, Baby Beluga, oh Baby Beluga"

Never fail, each time I swim, my head plays this song. There's something organic about the song that brings me back to my love of the ocean. I envision that baby whale gliding through the ocean's waters without a care in the world, feeling alive and happy just to be. For a moment, I am envious of that whale, and my heart longs to feel as carefree and at home in those wild waters as the baby beluga does.

On the bike, I often think of another song from my childhood. This one being, "Coming Round the Mountain."

"She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes).
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes).
She'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be coming 'round the mountain,
She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes, (when she comes)."



When I was about eight years old, I had an almost life-sized doll named "Cricket" that had a tape deck in her back and moved her mouth to the music she played. This was by far the coolest toy I ever owned as a child! She came with me everywhere, and one of my favorite stories she told was the one including the "Coming Round the Mountain" song. So, now, when I'm peddalling hard, all I can think is "She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes..."

The song never speaks of when she actually gets there, it simply tells of how "she is coming." This is me, on all those rides that I thought would never end, where the only thought I clung to was to just keep going. The moving forward is the experience, and arrival is the end. Naturally, then, "she" is always "coming" and never "there."

Running is home to me. I began this journey as a runner, and nothing makes me more at ease than running. It's almost like meditation and is where I do some of my best thinking. For those reasons, it's no suprise that the most often song that comes into my head while running is "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson.



"I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs

A Summer's Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya' Know
'Cause They Got Nowhere To Go
That's Why I Want You To Know

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change

I've Been A Victim Of
A Selfish Kind Of Love
It's Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With No Home,
Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me,
Pretending That They're Not Alone?

A Willow Deeply Scarred,
Somebody's Broken Heart
And A Washed-Out Dream
They Follow The Pattern Of
The Wind, Ya' See
Cause They Got No Place To Be
That's Why I'm Starting With Me

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And
Then Make A Change"

The song epitomizes how I feel about so many things and in so many ways. There is so much in the world that could be better and needs change. The only thing within your control is yourself; therefore, the best place to start is with you.

Who knows all that will go through my head on my fourteen hour race day, but you can bet your bottom dollar that these three tracks will be there at some point, feeling like familiar friends who have been with me all along.