A Platonic Tune

I catch myself in the middle of humming a song to myself while taking a leisurely walk. It must have followed me as I passed another humming walker, walking hummer. It is a welcome companion, an acquaintance who politely says goodbye as the final chorus ends, pondering if it deserves a repeat while it leaves. I close the door behind it. Its title would escape me until it no longer matters. I have probably passed it on to someone else.

Sometimes, a tune finds a connection with an emotion, then it lingers in the back of my head. The walk is over, but it stays there for a while, and I would not mind. I let it tag along, and maybe interest me enough to learn a story or two from its lyrics. Then when its words begin to tell stories that are meaningful to me, I make the song mine. These are the very special ones that become the few songs I know by heart. They have stayed with me for a significant part of my life that whenever they play, I feel.

Then the song eventually becomes too popular. It gets blasted at full volume in grand openings of fast food restaurants, and replayed every hour on every radio in every cab. I plug my ears as it comes uninvited yet again, and leaves as it pleases. It chooses to entertain rather than to relate. I am no longer its audience, so I let myself walk away from it too.

Years later, it will play, and I will remember how a song broke my heart.