I have a little tradition on the weekends. I wake up about 30 minutes before the sun is going rise (I listen to an AM radio station before bed that tells me the weather and when the sun will rise and set the next day. I know… strange. But it always makes me think of my boys who love to check the weather and provides my much needed information to accurately plan my morning so… it is a nightly ritual)… so that I can make my coffee and get outside and enjoy it as the sun creeps above the water and the shipping yard. Ahh I love my sunrises. Then I get back inside to watch the country music video countdown on CMT to jump start my day. I forgot how much I love music videos. There is something about hearing the songs with the visual story being played out that just makes the music that much better. I was watching the countdown and one of the hosts was interviewing Luke Combs about his new album which happened to be called… “Fathers and Sons”. Instantaneously my heart starts to beat faster… I didn’t even have to hear one line from one song… the title alone ‘had me at hello’…
I wait for the next move and rush out to the computers… praying that the album is available on our music system in here. The way the system works is that music gets uploaded to the entire BOP system once a week… most of the mainstream stuff is available but if you are the first person to download a song… you have to wait until the next day to listen to it. I log on… plug in my MP3 player and wait for it to connect… take a deep breath and type… “Luke Combs. Fathers and Sons”… I’m not breathing….and then… BAM… there it is! The whole album is on here… YES! I usually limit myself to 5 songs per week because you have to buy each song but I just had to buy the whole album… so I did. About half of it was available immediately but I was the first purchaser on the other half so I would have to wait until tomorrow for that but all good… half will do for today.
Each and every song resonated in a different way for me. Basically all of the song that I have listened to over the past few years in here reminds me of my boys… my loved ones… my life in the real world… but this album in particular just hit different. I can’t adequately express in words how much I genuinely miss my boys. It’s on a cellular level… like a deep seeded physical, emotional and spiritual pain that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I miss them in the sense of simply wanting to see them of course… but what I miss and ache for the most is actually being there with them and for them in life… not just in a moment. And listening to this album as I walk the track… I felt every lyric in a way that sent chills throughout my body. I vacillated between laughing… deep thought about the future… reminiscing about the past and simply longing to be able to park my car in the garage… walk through the door and hear them call my name and jump into my arms. And then I heard it…
Walkin through the front door…
Hearin Daddy at the top of his lungs…
With his feet on the wood floor…
Runnin up to give me a hug…
Man that’s what it’s all for…
It was as if Luke Comb’s had taken the thoughts out of my head and turned them into a melodic ear treat that expressed exactly how I was feeling in that moment. The song is called “Front Door Famous” and it is about how he can have all the fame and fandom out on the road while he is performing but nothing compares to being “front door famous” with his son. Getting home from the road and walking through that front door and hearing his boy yell “Daddy!”… there isn’t a better feeling in the entire world. And I would do just about anything to experience that right now. But… unfortunately… that is not reality so in reality… I will just listen to this song a thousand times and day dream about the day that it will once again be a reality.
Music is such a powerful emotional force… a true gift to this world. It amplifies feelings of joy… it allows us to express tough emotions… it helps us through break ups and make ups and screw ups and glow ups… and like the song above… sometimes it takes our inner thoughts and turns them into something tangible.
For all the Dad’s out there or behind these walls… check out “Fathers and Sons”… it’ll make you drop a tear or two but it will also fill your heart by allowing you to escape into the enormous love we have for our kids… and love outweighs all else… every single time.
Stay Healthy. Stay Active. Don’t take one walk through that front door for granted.