Aging: Lyrics and Music

​There is something satisfying in the following scenario:

I’m puttering around, listening a singer sing an unknown song to me:
I wish that today
 you would just….
(And then my eager mind guesses, “Stay?”)
 Staaaaayyyyyyy

Ahhh. Victory. Bonus points if the singer belts the word out right at a crescendo, which is especially satisfying.

Here is something odd I celebrate about aging: I relish listening to a song I’ve never heard, speculating ahead to the words the singer is going to sing….and being right.
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Certain words just go well together – especially added to music. And clichés are clichés for a reason. With each passing year, I hear again and again the same words that inspire people in song. The melodies change, but the lyrics don’t have to – at least not too much.
I find enjoyment in the little things in life, I know. But on the other hand, it’s equally satisfying to hear a song that catches me off guard. Maybe the lyrics surprise me. Perhaps they don’t rhyme, or they do, but in an awkward way that just works. Originality seems so much more delightfully original. BUT those “old” lyrical phrases that I hear again and again -  give me a feeling of comfort (like donning a well-loved pair of jeans) that solid lyrics can be resurrected and enjoyed year after year.