I suggested on Tuesday that writing could be considered my hobby. In response, several folks expressed appreciation for the words I regularly throw together. I was both humbled and honored.
Wednesday, a friend I’ve known since the first grade sent me a clipping from the Odessa American. The headlines read: “Gatlin giving back to UTPB.” The article announced that Larry Gatlin, a 1966 Odessa High School graduate and subsequent highly successful songwriter, recording artist, grammy winner, and storyteller would be teaching a master class in storytelling next spring.
Gatlin who lives in Nashville has crafted enough hit songs that tell a story that he has the credentials to become highly favored at UTPB in the eight weeks he’s committing to try his hand as a college professor.
The thing about a story that resonates with most people is their ability to see themselves in the storyline. The character may have a different name, but their experiences chronicle the experiences of the reader. John Steinbeck had the insight to know that when a reader can personally identify with the storyline, it becomes their story, and the story will withstand the test of time.
Perhaps it is for that reason that Steinbeck often wrote of common people who fell into the category of the working class or migrant workers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. He is best known for the novel Grapes of Wrath, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and the novella Of Mice and Men. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.
Songs that tell a story by Gatlin are plentiful. One of his most popular was Broken Lady. The lyrics include:
“She’s a broken lady, waiting to be mended
Like a potter would mend a broken vase
A broken lady, waiting to be mended
And have what’s left of the pieces put back in place
“Her love is like a fortress around a man she would have died for
Taking care to take of all he needed
But the ladies fortress slowly turned into a prison
And the warning signs he gave she never heeded
She vowed every morning that what God joined together
No one else in the world could pull apart
And then the walls came tumbling to the ground
And her world came crashing down around her heart.”
Like I said, in order for a story to capture the hearts of the listener and perpetually seem relevant, it has to be one in which others can see themselves. Ours is a world filled with broken people. I suspect that Broken Lady will always seem relevant.
If your life story could be crafted in the lyrics of a song, in which genre would the song be included? Would the song be a happy song? Would it be a sad song? Would it be a love song? Would it be one whose lyrics reflect bitterness, disappointment and regret?
The good news is our attitude can define our perception of and response to life. If we have tired on the old song, a new song is ours for the asking. We have the power to make it happen.
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 