KJLS-FM 103.3 10am Sundays
October 27
“What Can Make Us Stronger”
Part 1
Good morning, Central Kansas and around the world! Welcome to “Message at the Top,” and happy
Halloween in a couple days to all of you.
May Halloween be full of treats, with no tricks at all for you. Welcome to Mix 103’s unique top 10 show,
“Message at the Top”. I am Fr. Mike,
your host and get ready for the top 10 songs of our area as determined by our
own research and Mediabase 24-7 as of today, October
27, 2024. We here at Mix 103 continue to
give you only the very best in radio entertainment, / and that includes not
only the songs that we play, but their messages as well. This morning, we have top 10 songs from today
and yesterday, concentrating on the current top 10 and top 10 songs of the
recent past.
How do
we come alive? That’s a nice general
question that our lead song will lead us to this morning. What are the things in life that make us come
alive? It leads to a great
meditation. Many people say that the
only way to come alive is to have all the latest gadgetry and technological
marvels that make our lives so interesting.
Those people become so wrapped up in these material things that they
forget about the really important things in life,
things like the type of character we have, the type of person we should be.
Many people define that coming alive in light of another person whom they love in a romantic way,
and such is our lead song today. “Time stood still,” he begins his song, “just
like a photograph; you made me feel like this would last forever. Lookin' in your
eyes, I see my whole life. They say you
know it when you know it and I know. Promise
that you'll hold me close, don't let me go. Take my heart, don't break it; love
me to my bones. All this time I've
wasted; you were right there all along, You and I stargazin',
intertwinin' souls. We were never strangers; I lose
my mind when I'm around you; how I come alive. When I'm without you I can't
help but feel so lost. I wanna give you all I've got.” He says that when you know that you are in
love, then you know, and he knows. And
for him, that’s how he comes alive.
What about you? What are the things that make you come
alive? That will be our question today
as we study the meanings of the songs we play.
And to start us off, this is our lead song from 26 year old Myles Smith
from Luton, England, and his song “Stargazing”, number 5 this week on MATT.
(double) 5 STARGAZING / Myles Smith
STARS / Switchfoot
Part
2
There
are four songs on our playlist of top 10’s since 1980 that have “stars” in
their titles. Our lead song from Myles
Smith was one of them. We have the other
three on our show today. That last one
was one of them from the talents of
the originally Christian group Switchfoot from their album,
“Nothing Is Sound,” and a great message, the name of their song being
“Stars”. I think that it is a very high
category song of meaning, close to a 10+.
“Maybe I’ve been the problem,” they begin their song, “maybe I’m the one
to blame. But even when I turn it off
and play myself, the outcome feels the same.
Maybe I’m overcast, and maybe all my luck’s washed down the drain. I’ve been thinking ‘bout everyone— /
everyone, you look so lonely. But when I
look at the stars, I see someone else.
When I look at the stars, I feel like myself.” That is to say, I
think, that when he feels so badly, and lonely—and everyone feels lonely—all he
has to do is to look at God’s creation, and he is renewed. For the person in the song, he/she comes
alive when the person finally realizes the beauty of the world
he/she lives in, is one created by God.
We stay in the “stars” category for the next two songs
here. The first one comes from the
British super-band Coldplay. It is a love song, and
very clever in its composition. The
video is clever also, but does not act out the
words. “’Cause
you’re a sky full of stars,” they sing, “I’m gonna
give you my heart, ‘cause you light up the path. I don’t care, go on and tear me part, I don’t
care if you do, ‘cause in a sky full of stars I think
I saw you. I wanna
die in your arms.” It is a dangerous
thing to do—to give yourself completely to someone and give them the
opportunity to tear you apart, as they sing.
This type of commitment should be made only when the two are ready to be
with each other forever. And when they
are, and the commitment is made, it is the way for them to come alive, our theme
today. Coldplay was formed in 1996, and
this song is from their album “Ghost Stories” and their song “A Sky Full of
Stars” from the year 2014 on MATT.
(triple) A SKY FULL OF STARS / Coldplay
COUNTING STARS / OneRepublic
4 I HAD SOME HELP / Post Malone & Morgan
Wallen
Part 3
Austin Richard Post, that is Post Malone there
and his album “F-1 Trillion”, along with Morgan Wallen and their song “I
Had Some Help” number 4 on MATT. It is a song about blame. “I
had some help,” they sing, “It ain’t like I can make this kind of mess all by myself. Don’t act like you ain’t
help[ing] me pull that bottle off the shelf. Been deep in every weekend if you couldn’t
tell. They say teamwork makes the dream
work. You think that you’re so
innocent. After all the stuff you did, I
ain’t an angel; you ain’t
heaven-sent, can’t wash our hands off this.
It takes two to break a heart in two, you blame me, and I blame
you.” Of course, as I have said, that is
what it is from his point of view.
The lady in the relationship probably has her own version. Whatever the case, they will both have to get
rid of their desire to blame the other before their relationship will come
alive, our theme today.
Before
them, we heard the fourth of our four songs with “Stars” in their titles on our
playlist since 1980. It came from the
band OneRepublic from their album
“Native” and their song “Counting Stars”. It is a song of hoping that a relationship will blossom. “Lately I been losing sleep,” they sing,
“dreaming about the things that we could be.
But I been prayin’ hard, said no more counting
dollars, we’ll be counting stars. I see
this life like a swinging vine. Swing my
heart across the line. In my face is flashing
signs—seek it out and ye shall find.” It
seems that the relationship had been based on money. “Take that money,” they sing, “watch it burn,
sink it in the river—the lessons I learned.”
A really good lesson, it seems to me. Most of us are not people who have money to
burn or sink in the river, but if we really want to come alive, our theme
today, a way to make it happen in our personal worlds is to understand that
money must have its place, and although important, it is not the most important
thing. My opinion, of course. The song has a great video to study as well.
Important
words being said here, not because I said them, but because if people would
know them, we’d be able to understand our life a little more, I believe. What great messages these songs have. Let me take you to break with a thought from
Bonnie Prudden, a physical fitness pioneer who died in 2011: “You can’t turn back the clock. But
you can wind it up again.” That is, we can work to
make some more time for ourselves and some time to work
out good plans to help ourselves and others come alive. Our show is called MATT; I am Fr. Mike, and I
hope your Sunday of the weekend before Halloween is a good one for you. Don’t go way; “Message at the Top” on Mix 103
will be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 4
This is MATT and it is so good to have you back with us. We welcome you back to the top 10 songs of
our area as of the week ending today, and we welcome you back to some top 10
songs of the past as well. And with our
music, we always give the meanings of the songs. I’m Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10
show of its kind in this area, maybe in the world, the show that takes the top
songs and explains their messages, and then we call the show “Message at the
Top.” The topic of our show this morning
was given to us by newcomer Myles Smith and his song “Stargazing”, and that
topic is “Coming Alive.”
Let’s
go to number 6 on our playlist and a song about justifiable
anger. The lady in the relationship
sings: “We
had a plan, move out of this town, West to the sand, it's all we talked about
lately. I'd pack the car, bring your guitar, first thing at dawn, you'd queue
the songs and we'd get goin'. But you weren't home,
waited on the porch for ya, sat there alone, all
throughout the morn' 'til I got a hunch down in my gut and snuck around the
back. Empty cans and I'll be damned,
your stuff was never packed. Did your boots stop workin'?
Did you burn through money? Was the whiskey flowin'? Were
you in a fight?” And consequently, she sings, “I made my way back to LA, and
that's where you'll be forgotten. In forty years, you'll still be here, drunk,
washed up in Austin.”
In terms of our theme this week, it is clear that the lady in the relationship could not come
alive with that present relationship. Ms. Anna Dasha Novotny here, better known
simply as Dasha from her debut album “Dirty Blonde,” at number 6 this morning
and “Austin” on MATT.
(double) 6 AUSTIN / Dasha
TALKING BODY / Tove Lo
Part
5
It’s
Swedish singer Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson’s birthday, that is Tove Lo’s birthday on
Tuesday when she will be 37 years old.
Happy birthday to her, and in her honor we
heard her song “Talking Body” from 2015. It comes from her album “Queen of the Clouds” and a song of begging another to stay with
her. “Bed,” she begins her song, “stay in bed. The feeling of your skin locked in my
head. Smoke, smoke me broke, I don't care: I'm down for what you want. Day drunk into the night, wanna
keep you here ‘cause you dry
my tears. Yeah, summer lovin' and fights.
How it is for us, and it's all because now if we're talking body, you
got a perfect one, swear it won't take you long. If you love me right, we act for life on and
on and on.” I cleaned up the words there
a little. If one finds his or herself
begging another to be part of a relationship, as in the song, that is usually a
sign of mediocrity, and is no way to really come alive, our theme today.
Our closing triple play this
first hour of our music begins right here with a song about a
man in a relationship who has discovered a person that he really likes and he wants to keep it that way. “For a while there, it was rough,” he sings,
“but lately I’ve been doing better than the last four Decembers I recall. And I see my family every month and I found a
girl my parents love. She’ll come and
stay the night and I think I might have it all, and I
thank God every day for the girl He sent my way. But I know the things He gives me, He can
take away, and I hold you every night and that’s a feeling I wanna get used to.
But there’s no man as terrified as the man who stands to lose you. I hope I don’t lose you. Please stay.
I want you, I need you. God, don’t take these beautiful things that
I’ve got.” The person is tuned into God,
it would seem, and from my point of view anyway, being tuned into God will make
him and his relationship come alive, our theme today. From his album “Fireworks and Rollerblades,” his
song “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone, former number 1 now at number 8 on MATT.
(triple) 8 BEAUTIFUL THINGS / Benson Boone
STAY / The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber (NOT
Loeb, Rihanna, Safetysuit or Zedd)
9 LOSE
CONTROL / Teddy Swims
Part
6
What happens when a person is lonely, the statement
of that song. It comes from his album
with the title of “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy,
part 1” that was Jaten Collin Dimsdale better known as Teddy Swims, and his
song “Lose Control” on MATT. He sings
“Something’s got a hold of me lately.
No, I don’t know myself anymore, feels like the walls are all closing in
and the devil’s knocking at my door. Outta my mind, how many times did I tell you I’m no good at
being alone? It’s taking a toll on me,
trying my best to keep from tearing the skin off my bones. Don’t you know I lose control when you’re not
next to me. I’m falling apart right in
front of you. You’re breaking my
heart. You make a mess of me.” So it is loneliness,
but it is loneliness because one special person is no longer there for
him. One of the problems of early
relationships and sometimes with later ones, is that we get too serious too
soon and we lose the feeling of coming alive with the relationship, and then
they give up on that relationship, coming alive being our theme today.
Before him, we
heard the number 1 song of 2022. It came
from The Kid
Laroi or Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard along with Justin Bieber, and their
song “Stay”. The song is about the man
in a relationship who no longer has the lady in the relationship around, it
seems, and it is probably his fault, and therefore he will have to face the
truth sometime. “I do the same thing
that I told you that I never would,” they sing, “I told you I’d change, even
when I knew I never could. I know that I
can’t find nobody else as good as you; I need you to stay. I get drunk, wake up, I’m wasted still. I
realize the time that I wasted here. I
feel like you can’t feel the way I feel.
I’ll be messed up if you can’t be right here.” I cleaned up the language a bit. The man in the relationship has to work on getting his life back in order before he can
come alive, our theme today.
And, we have played our way to a brief
hiatus, as we close off our first hour together. In the second hour, get ready for music from Taylor
Swift and the Goo Goo Dolls among others. We began our show with a song from Myles
Smith, and we are speaking of ways to come alive during our show today. Leading us into our break, here is a thought
from Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous: "Happiness is like jam. You can’t spread even a little without
getting some on yourself.”. And
happiness certainly leads to the ability to come alive. Don’t
go way. I’m Fr. Mike, and this is the
“Message at the Top” music network.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 7
Hi again, everybody. I
am Fr. Mike and this is “Message at the Top” on
100,000 watts of power, today’s best music, Mix 103, our only top 10 show which
gives you not only the current top 10 but top 10 music of the 2000’s and some
of the 90’s and even some 80’s and we give you the meanings of the songs at the
same time. The title of our show this
morning is “Come Alive” and we are studying all the songs of
our show asking them to shed some light on that topic.
Let’s begin this hour with our number 10 song from two
superstars with totally different styles usually. It is a
love song and strong commitment to each other.
“I just woke up from a dream,” they sing, “Where you
and I had to say goodbye; and I don't know what it all means, but since I
survived, I realized wherever you go, that's where I'll follow. Nobody's promised tomorrow, so I'ma love you every night like it's the last night. If the
world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you. If the
party was over and our time on Earth was through, I'd wanna
hold you just for a while and die with a smile.” So, words of strong commitment, but there had
been struggles, it seems. They sing, “Lost
in the words that we scream, I don't even wanna do
this anymore 'cause you already know what you mean to
me. And our love's the only war worth fighting for.”
Fitting into our theme, this week, they
were screaming at one another at one time, but it finally worked out, and they
were ready to come alive. This is that
interesting duo--Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known
as Lady Gaga and Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as Bruno Mars and their
number 10 song, “Die with a Smile” on MATT.
(triple) 10 DIE WITH A
SMILE / Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
STAY WITH ME / Sam Smith
STAY
WITH YOU / Goo Goo Dolls
Part 8
Two “Stay With” songs there, the last one from the Goo Goo Dolls was the song “Stay with You” from 2006 from their album “Let Love In” on MATT. “These streets turn me inside out,” they
sing, “Everything shines, but leaves me empty still, and I’ll burn this lonely
house down if you run with me. I’ll stay
with you, the walls will fall before we do, take my hand now, we’ll run
forever, I can feel the storm inside you.
I’ll stay with you. Fooled by my
own desires, I twist my fate just to feel you.
But you turn me toward the light, and you’re one with me—will you run
with me? I’ll stay with you.” So, a song of commitment—the person in the
song saying that he’ll run forever with her.
As we think about coming alive, our theme, certainly a true commitment
of romantic love will make both of them feel alive.
Before that “Stay With” song,
we heard “Stay With Me” from Sam Smith’s album
“In the Lonely Hour,” from 2014. He
sings, “Guess it’s true, I’m not good at a one-night stand. These nights never seem to go to plan. I don’t want you to leave, will you hold my
hand? Won’t you stay with me? ‘Cause you’re all I
need. This ain’t
love, it’s clear to see, but, stay with me.” Interesting—he admits that it is not love,
and all he wants is someone to stay with him so that he doesn’t hurt, as he
sings later in the song: “But you can lay with me so
it doesn’t hurt,” he sings. It is the
situation of someone begging another.
And one can only guess the outcome.
It may very well be that she ignores his pleas, and the sadness will be
there for a long time. It’s not a happy
thing to think about, to be sure, but it can lead to some pretty good
soul-searching, I believe. And deeper
thoughts into your situation usually will make us come alive more, our theme
today.
Another triple right now, and
let’s begin it with our current number 7 song.
The message is one of
feeling badly because a relationship is not working out. The lady in the relationship is swearing that she will get over it, although you
wonder whether she ever will. “I
can read your mind, ‘she’s having the time of her life,’” the lady in the
relationship sings, “There in her glittering prime, I can show you lies ‘cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my stuff. They
said, ‘Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make
it’. And I did: Lights, camera, smile
even when you want to die. He said he'd
love me all his life, but that life was too short. Breaking down, I hit the
floor, all the pieces of me shattered. I was grinning like I'm winning. I was hitting my marks 'cause
I can do it with a broken heart. I'm so depressed, I'm so obsessed with him,
but he avoids me like the plague. You
know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.” I changed some of the words. The lady in the song is only acting like
everything is alright, and anyone who does this will never be able to come
alive, our theme today. From
her album “The Tortured Poets Department,” and “I Can Do It with a Broken
Heart”, Ms. Taylor Swift at number 7 on our playlist this
morning on MATT.
(triple) 7 I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN HEART / Taylor
Swift
STAY THE NIGHT / Zedd f/
Hayley Williams
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART /
Bryan Adams
Part
9
Back to the 80’s for that one, in fact 1983, his break-through
song, Mr. Bryan Adams, and “Straight from The Heart” from his album “Cuts Like
a Knife”, a great song about the importance of communication. “Give it to me straight from the heart,” he
sings, “Tell me we can make another start.
You know I’ll never go, as long as I know it’s
coming straight from the heart.” Because
if words are coming straight from the heart, then you know that the words are
sincere, and in order to have good communication,
there must be the qualities of openness and sincerity in words. A love relationship that has good
communication, where each of the parties can address one another straight from
the heart is certainly a way for the couple to come alive, our theme today.
Before
him, we heard from German producer and DJ Anton Zaslavski better known as Zedd
and here featuring Hayley Nichole Williams, the lead singer of
the rock group Paramore. It came from
Zedd’s album “Clarity”, and their song “Stay the Night”from
2012. The song is an invitation for another to stay
the night, and because the relationship is in such a mess, he should not stay
the night unless they are trying to work it out, IMHO. In the song, they are not trying to work it
out—they only want the feeling. “I know
that we are upside down,” she sings, “so hold your tongue and hear me out. I know that we were made to break. So what, I don’t
mind. Are you gonna
stay the night, doesn’t mean we’re bound for life.” Like I say, it seems that they have some work
to do on their relationship. And the
only way their relationship will come alive, our theme today, is for them to do
that work.
Our theme today is that idea of coming
alive, and how to do it. Our next set of
music and message will explore that theme with the top 3 songs of our land as
we speak, and a triple play fro-m the group Train. Let me go to break with this thought from the
creator of Peanuts, Mr. Charles Schulz: “Life
is like a ten speed bicycle: most of us have gears we never use.” Oh, so true.
We learn to use just a couple of them and our world will get a lot
better because we would probably learn the true meaning of coming alive. I’m Fr. Mike, listen to these words of wisdom,
and then I hope you come back for more.
COMMERCIAL
BREAK
Hi, everyone! Happy Halloween in a couple of days and welcome
back to “Message at the Top”, our top 10 show on Mix 103. I am Fr. Mike, and our show gives you the top
10 songs of today and the past 44 years.
And what is amazing about all of our songs is
that with a little bit of help, they can actually teach us something about
ourselves and about our behavior. The
topic of our show today concerns the ways of coming alive in the situation of
the song. The thought came from the
Myles Smith’s first top 10 song “Stargazing.”
Let’s
go to a super group who have sold over 10 million albums. They have been nominated for 43 different
awards from various recording lists and won 12 of them. They have been around since 1993, and maybe
the best known band in the United States and certainly in the San Francisco
area. One great band—Train. Three songs here during our segment 10
presentation. The first one is my
favorite happy song. It takes off on a
melody that everyone learns when they begin to play piano. It is actually a
love song, imploring someone to play the song that reminds him of a lady in his
life. “Play that song,” they sing, “the
one that makes me want to go out all night long, the one that makes me want to
think of you. That’s all you got to do. Hey Mr. DJ, play my baby’s favorite
song.” He wants the relationship to
continue to be a happy one. Like I say,
a happy song and video by the way. Just listening to it and watching the video
makes me want to come alive; maybe it will do the same for you. From their album “A Girl, A Bottle, A Boat”,
this is from 2016 “Play That Song”, former number 1, Pat Monihan and the band
Train on MATT.
(triple) PLAY THAT SONG / Train
CAB / Train
50 WAYS TO SAY GOODBYE / Train
Part 11
Closing off our segment 10 presentation of the band Train on
MATT. It is also the song of meditation
for today on www.frmikescully.com
from Train again from their album “California 37,” and their song “50 Ways To Say Goodbye” from the year 2012, and a former number
1. It is a song of how to deal with
pain, and specifically how to deal with someone who has left the relationship
with the person in the song: “My heart is paralyzed,” the group Train sings the
thoughts of the man in the relationship, “My head was oversized. I’ll take the high road like I should. You said it’s meant to be, that it’s not you,
it’s me. You’re leaving now for my own
good. That’s cool, but if my friends ask
where you are, I’m gonna say,”—and he goes on to make
up all kinds of things to say about her leaving—things like she fell into a
cement mixer full of quicksand, met a shark underwater—and always ending with
the words “help me, help me, I’m no good at goodbyes, I’m all out of lies, and
ways to say you died.” Although it
almost sounds like a happy song, it is a song of dishonesty since he will not
face the truth about his situation. In
terms of our theme, that is not a way to come alive. The video is quite clever, I think.
Before them, them again, Train, and their song simply entitled “Cab”
from 2005 from their “For Me, It’s You” album.
It is a song about a car that is called a “cab” in our slang. It is actually a
song of a breakup, and a little poetic in its approach, but it is the familiar
idea of “things are not so good.” But I
like the idea that some progress is being made: “
From
2003 to October 27, 2024 and the top 3 songs in our
land as of this moment. At number 3 is a
man in a relationship talking of the lifestyle of each of the partners. His own is a late-night one along with a
little too much relaxation / and the partner is an early bird with a cautious
lifestyle. “It can’t be said I’m an
early bird, it’s ten o’clock before I say a word. I can never tell how you sleep so well. You keep telling me to live right, to go to
bed before the daylight, but then you wake up for the sunrise. But while in this world, I think I’ll take my
whiskey neat, my coffee black and my bed at three. You’re too sweet for me.” We have mentioned before that opposites
sometimes attract when people are discovering love, but not often, and often,
people like this who find themselves attracted to one another in love, will
have to make some decision to compromise or else their relationship will not
work out, and then they won’t be able to come alive with that relationship, our
theme today. This is Irish singer/songwriter Andrew John
Hozier-Byrne, better known simply as Hozier, and his song “Too Sweet”, former
number 1 now at number 3 on MATT.
(double) 3 TOO SWEET / Hozier
2 A BAR
SONG / Shaboozey
Part
12
At
number 2 former number 1, Collins Obinna Chibueze, known as Shaboozey,
American musician /singer/ songwriter/ filmmaker and producer, and his song “A
Bar Song (Tipsy)” on MATT. And as one
would guess from its title, a song about drinking. He
begins his song by telling us that he works hard and has problems that he won’t
have when he’s gone. And then
presumably, he wants to relax from his work and problems by drinking alcohol.
“Someone, pour me up a double shot of whiskey. They know me and Jack Daniel's
got a history. There's a party downtown, near 5th Street. Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy. I've been boozey
since I left, I ain't changin'
for a check. Woke up drunk at 10 am, we gon'[na] do this stuff again. Tell your girl to bring a friend.” I changed a word in the song. In terms of our theme today, it may seem like
he has come alive because alcohol can do that, but there will come a time when
he will see that you can’t really come alive until you
feel it with no artificial help.
And
the number 1 song for two weeks in a row is from Billie Eilish, a song about falling in
love with a person that she wants to "stick together" with. It is her latest from her album “Hit Me Hard
and Soft”, and her song “Birds of a Feather”.
The love to her significant other brings her to tears and begs the lover
to never end their relationship. “I want
you to stay 'til I'm in the grave”, she begins, “'til I rot
away, dead and buried, ‘til I'm in the casket you carry. If you go, I'm goin'
too / 'cause it was always you and if I'm turnin' blue, please don't save me. Nothin' left to
lose without my baby. Birds of a feather
we should stick together. And I don't
know what I'm cryin' for; I don't think I could love
you more. It might not be long, but I'll
love you 'til the day that I die, ‘til the light leaves my eyes, ‘til the day
that I die.” So, the lady in the
relationship is truly committed to the other and presuming that the other in
the relationship feels the same way, that commitment will stay there. And with it will be the feeling of truly
coming alive, our theme today.
That
theme of coming alive was taken from Myles Smith’s song “Stargazing.” My prayer for you and me is that we will
learn the art of coming alive every day that we live. My thanks to our producers and sponsors,
especially our sponsors at Hays Car and Truck Alignment, Holy Family Elementary
School in Hays, and Thomas More Prep-Marian Junior and Senior High School in
Hays. If you want to contact me by mail,
I hope you do so at KJLS radio, Hays, KS, 67601 or my e-mail address is frmikescully@yahoo.com. My website is www.frmikescully.com where
you will find
some meditations on the Gospels, these songs and some great movies and a
transcript of this show. The meditation
for today, as I mentioned is on Train’s “50 Ways to Say Goodbye.” If you want to join us on the web, go to www.hayspost.com and click on Mix 103 at
10 am CDT. A final quote from Voltaire,
a French philosopher who died in 1778 speaking of someone who had a lot of
answers: “He must be very
ignorant / for he answers every question he is asked.” Well said, Mr. Voltaire. Good stuff there. As we close with Billie Eilish’s song, “Birds
of a Feather”, may I remind you to hold a good
thought. Speaking to you from beautiful downtown
Lawrence KS, my name is Fr. Mike Scully. Be safe, peace to you, and be good.
1 BIRDS OF A FEATHER /
Billie Eilish
October 20, 2024
“Communication”
Part 1
Hello, Central Kansas and around the world! Welcome to “Message at the Top,” and happy
Fall again—such a beautiful time of year.
Welcome to Mix 103’s unique top 10 show, “Message at the Top”. I am Fr. Mike Scully, your host; get ready
for the top 10 songs of our area as determined by our own research and Mediabase 24-7. We
here at Mix 103 continue to give you only the very best in radio entertainment,
/ and that includes not only the songs that we play, but their messages as
well. This morning, we have top 10 songs
from today and yesterday, concentrating on the current top 10 and songs of the
past top 10’s that include music from birthday people Doja Cat, Dean Lewis,
Drake and Katy Perry.
One of my older friends was talking about the show here and
mentioned to me that I hadn’t played any of Madonna’s songs for a while. I thought I had, but he was right, and so I
will make up for that mistake this morning and begin with a theme setting song
from her as well as another of my favorite songs of hers. The theme setter is a controversial
one—always good to have controversy since it makes you think.
The song was controversial because it speaks rather explicitly
of human love and seems to use “God-like” words to explain it. I have always thought that it was a great
song because it uses love of God for us as the perfect love to compare to human
love. Once the comparison is made, then
her communication with that lover is “Like A Prayer”. She begins her song: “Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone. I hear you call my
name, and it feels like home.” The
comparison is clear—love of a friend and love of God.
It is really a great song in my opinion, although a number of people do not agree with me. It expresses the sincere devotion to a
fiancé, and when people are truly in love, it is a perfect comparison to say
that that love is just like the love of God for us. It gives us a chance to speak of
communication, so important for people in order to
live well and especially love well, and so important when it comes to the
spiritual life of prayer.
This is Madonna Louise Ciccone better known simply as Madonna,
sometimes called the “Queen of Pop,” a song from 1989 from her album after the
name of the song “Like a Prayer” on MATT.
(double) LIKE A PRAYER / Madonna
PAPA DON’T PREACH / Madonna
Part
2
One of
my favorite teaching songs from Madonna.
It too was a bit controversial at
the time and her song from 1986, “Papa Don’t Preach”
from her album “True Blue” on MATT. It is a
very important statement to the parents of our audience. There are a couple of
the 80’s songs that I would rank in my own top 10 of all the songs of meaning
that I have ever studied, and that is one of them. It is a song sung by a daughter calling for
understanding from her father. The girl
is pregnant before marriage, and they want to get married. So, she is begging her father to listen to
her, don’t preach to her, and give her some advice, exactly what he should do,
of course, but far too many fathers do not.
She and her boyfriend have allowed the emotions of love to overcome
them, and one thing led to another.
Emotions do that, and that is a lesson in itself. But the song is about the emotions of the
girl as she struggles with wanting her dad to understand. Would that he would. Every father in the world, every parent for
that matter, should listen to this song.
I feel that strongly about it. It
calls for true communication, our theme today, in a family.
Let’s stay in the category of excellent songs as we give you
the number 1 song of the whole year of 2016.
It is a
song that talks about the importance of Moms and Dads, and it should be
required listening for everyone who decides to have a family in my humble
opinion. “Hold on,” the young person
sings because he/she is a little unsteady.
“Mama,” the child sings, “come here.
Daddy, I’m alone ‘cause this house don’t feel
like home. If you love me, don’t let
go. Hold on to me.” This song makes the case that if every Mom and Dad knew how strong their role was, the lives of
this world would be so much better. Again,
in terms of our theme, it calls for excellent communication in the family. Certainly, in my top 10 songs of meaning since
1980, from the group X Ambassadors, an inspiring group themselves, from their album “VHS”,
and their song “Unsteady” on MATT.
Listen to the words!
(triple) UNSTEADY / X Ambassadors
HOLD ON WE’RE GOING HOME / Drake
WILDEST DREAMS / Taylor Swift
Part 3
Ms. Taylor Alison Swift, the first of two songs on
our show today from her, this time from her album “1989”, “Wildest Dreams” from
2014 on MATT. The lady in the
relationship has broken up with the man, and she talks about how he is going to
feel about her. “He said, ‘Let's get out of this town,’” she sings,
“’drive out of the city, away from the crowds.’
I thought heaven can't help me now.
Nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take
me down. He's so tall and handsome. I can see the end as it begins. My one condition is: say you'll remember me
standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, red lips and rosy cheeks. Say you'll see me again, even if it's just in
your wildest dreams.” The breakup has
occurred, and she is feeling the pain.
In terms of our theme, she is certainly communicating with her
ex-boyfriend it seems, and one hopes such communication will occur in her next
relationship.
Before her, we wished a happy birthday to Aubrey Drake Graham, better known simply as Drake born in Toronto, Canada who will be 38 next Thursday. It is from his album “Nothing Was the Same,” and his song “Hold On We’re Going Home”. It is a song of intense emotion of the man in the relationship for the woman. “I got my eyes on you,” he sings, “you’re everything that I see. I want your hot love and emotion endlessly. I can’t get over you. You left your mark on me. ‘Cause you’re a good girl and you know it. You act so different around me. I know exactly who you could be. Just hold on, we’re going home. It’s hard to do these things alone.” There is nothing wrong with emotion, of course, but when we are all caught up on that emotion, we may miss what a relationship is all about, that is, giving of oneself. Unfortunately, too much emotion can block the one thing that is absolutely necessary in a relationship, namely our theme today, communication.
We have taken that theme of communication
from Madonna and her number 1 song 35 years ago “Like a Prayer” and we will
pursue some more thinking about it in just a couple of minutes with music in
order of appearance from Doja Cat, Sheryl Crow, the band The Verve Pipe, Dean
Lewis and Katy Perry, all past top 10 songs.
First, a thought from Vince Lombardi who knew something about football
and life: “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” One
of the things that we will never want to quit is good communication. I’m
Fr. Mike, this show is “Message at
the Top”, this radio station is Mix
103, and we’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL
BREAK
Part
4
We are
back for “Message at the Top” and we welcome you back
to the top 10 songs of today and yesterday as determined by our research and
your requests. We call our show MATT
because we take those top 10 songs and analyze their meanings in the light of
how we can live better in this complicated world. We will get to our present top 10 during our
second hour together. I am Fr. Mike,
your host for the top 10 show of
today’s best music, Mix 103, and we are asking each
song of our show what it has to say about the art of communication.
Let’s
wish happy birthday to Doja Cat, and I would mess up her real name, so I won’t
try it. She will be 29 years old
tomorrow. She sings with Post Malone
here in the song. The words signify some type of friendship, a song of feeling good
about someone else. “I like you, I do,”
they begin the song, “I wanna be your friend, go shoppin’ in the Benz, I like you, I do. I’ll hit you when I land, can you fit me in
your plans? I need a good girl, I need
someone to ground me, so please be true, don’t mess around with me. I need someone to share this heart with
me.” I cleaned up the words a little; it
is a statement of feeling love toward another.
Again, in order to be love, besides the good
feeling, there must be sincere communication between the two. Happy birthday, Doja Cat who is singing with
Post Malone from Post Malone’s album, “Twelve Carat Toothache” and their song
“I Like You” and in parenthesis (“A Happier Song”) on MATT.
(double) I LIKE YOU / Post Malone
& Doja Cat
THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST
/ Sheryl Crow
Part
5
A statement of pain
from Sheryl Crow, and her song “The First Cut Is the Deepest” from her album
“The Very Best of Sheryl Crow,” from the year 2003 on MATT. The singer is an excellent songwriter,
although she did not write this song—Cat Stevens, another really
good songwriter did. She sings a commentary on one of the most difficult
things to do in life—go back to loving someone after you have been hurt by
someone else. “I would have given you
all of my heart,” she sings, “but there’s someone who has torn it apart, but,
if you want, I’ll try to love again. The
first cut is the deepest. If you want I’ll try to love again, but I know the first cut is the
deepest.” The person in the song has
been in pain, but she is going to try again: “I want you by my side,” she
sings. That idea of trying again is so
important for life. And, as she does it
here in the song, she is communicating exactly how she feels, communication
being our theme today.
Let’s go back to the year
1997 from a rock group formed in East Lansing, Michigan in
1992. The name of the band is The Verve
Pipe, and they are still on the music scene.
The person in the song does not want to face the responsibility of
actions that have happened in his past.
Understanding that he had done some things when he was a young lover, he
says, I “can’t be held responsible, I won’t be held responsible.” Rather than accept the responsibility, he first of all blames his one-time friend: “She fell in love
in the first place.” Then, to make
himself feel even better, he blames the situation: “We were merely
freshmen.” If there is a primary
characteristic of maturity, it may very well be the accepting of responsibility
for one’s actions. By the time we reach
the high school and college years, we should understand that if we do
something, we should be able to admit it, communication being our theme today. This is the band
The Verve Pipe from their album “Villains,” and the song from the year 1997
“The Freshmen” on MATT.
(triple) THE FRESHMEN / The Verve Pipe
HOW DO I SAY GOODBYE / Dean Lewis
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY / Katy Perry
Part
6
The
first of two from her on our show today, happy birthday to her as she will be
40 on Friday, from her immensely popular album “Teenage Dream,” Katherine
Elizabeth Hudson better known as Katy Perry from the songs of meaning of 2012,
“The One That Got Away” on MATT. It is
the lady in a relationship recalling what an early romance was
all about and how she misses it now. “In
another life,” she sings, “I would be your girl. We’d keep all our promises, be us against the
world. In another life, I would make you
stay so I don’t have to say you were the one that got away. All this money can’t buy me a time machine. It can’t replace you with a million
rings. I shoulda
told you what you meant to me, ‘cause now I paid the
price.” She has lost him forever, and
the video shows that in a striking way.
She is saying exactly what our theme is today—"I shoulda told you.”
It may not get rid of all the pain in one’s life, but being able to
communicate well can certainly help a life.
Before her, we wished happy birthday to
Dean Lewis Grant Loaney better known simply as Dean
Lewis who will be 37 years old tomorrow.
The song is from his album “The Hardest Love”, and the name of the song,
“How Do I Say Goodbye” from 2022. The
song was written for his father suffering from cancer and a beautiful tribute
to his Dad. His
Dad’s disease later went into remission.
“Early morning,” he sings, “There’s a message on my phone. It’s my mother saying, ‘please come
home’. I fear the worst, how could you
leave us all behind? There’s so much to
say but there’s so little time. So how
do I say goodbye to someone who’s been with me for my whole life? You gave me my name and the color of your
eyes. I see your face when I look at
mine. When I couldn’t, you always saw
the best in me. So, how do I say
goodbye.” And he adds a comment about
his mother: “And I saw the way she looked into your eyes, and I promise if you
go, I will make sure she’s alright.” In
terms of our theme, the song is sincere communication with his Dad, a tremendous lesson for all of us. The video is well done, by
the way.
We
will continue with that thought of communication as spoken by our songs
today. Get ready for a second hour which
after a couple of songs will give you the top 10 songs of our land as of today. Let me take you to that second hour with this
thought from Mr. or Mrs. Google, and really the problem with
communication. “The biggest
communication problem is that we do not listen to understand. We listen to
reply.”
Amen. Your dial is set for
“Message at the Top”; may I implore you to keep
it there. Like MacArthur, we will
return.
COMMERCIAL
BREAK
Part
7
Every song has a message, and most of the
time that message can make us do some serious thinking about life. Such is our thinking here. Hi again, everyone. You are in tune with “Message at the
Top,” on Mix 103, your top 10 show that plays the top 10 songs in our land
right now, and we also play great songs of meaning from past top 10’s. We take the top 10 of the present and the
past, study their messages, and then call our show MATT. I’m your host, Fr. Mike. It’s great to have you here. We’re concentrating on the idea of
communication this morning.
We
will get to our current top 10 momentarily beginning with the final song of
this triple play. First
of all, a song that is a rather explicit song speaking of physical
involvement. Of course, I always feel
that such involvement should be relegated to the marriage state, but that is my
opinion, of course. In the song, they
are very close, and have moved from the thought of
“friendship” to the other side, namely “true love.” “Tonight,” the man in the relationship sings,
“take me to the other side. Sparks fly
like the Fourth of July. Just take me to
the other side. I see that look in your
eyes. And I know we ain’t
friends anymore. If we walk down this
road, we’ll be lovers for sure. Take me
to the other side.” Like I say, if the
two involved are strong into a permanent commitment as they seem to say, then
they have made the commitment to always communicate with each other. MATT presents here Miami Florida born Jason
Derulo and his song “The Other Side” from 2013 from his self-named album on
MATT.
(triple) THE OTHER SIDE / Jason Derulo
UNCONDITIONALLY
/ Katy Perry
10 LOSE CONTROL / Teddy
Swims
Part 8
Beginning
our current countdown at number 10, and coming back into our top 10, a number 1
song on some charts, a song of loneliness,
and what happens when a person is lonely.
It comes from his album with the title of “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy, part 1” that was Jaten Collin Dimsdale better
known as Teddy Swims, and his song “Lose Control” on MATT. We’ll have another of his songs in the top 10
as well. Here, he sings “Something’s got
a hold of me lately. No, I don’t know
myself anymore, feels like the walls are all closing in and the devil’s
knocking at my door. Outta
my mind, how many times did I tell you I’m no good at being alone? It’s taking a toll on me, trying my best to
keep from tearing the skin off my bones.
Don’t you know I lose control when you’re not next to me. I’m falling apart right in front of you. You’re breaking my heart. You make a mess of me.” So it is loneliness,
but it is loneliness because one special person is no longer there for
him. One of the problems of early
relationships and sometimes with later ones, is that we get too serious too
soon and we lose the desire to communicate with the other, our theme today, and
that causes loneliness, and blocks the possibility of a relationship with
anyone else.
Before
him, we heard another song from Katy Perry as we celebrate her 40th birthday
on Friday, another song about giving oneself completely to another, as was
Jason Derulo’s song earlier and exactly what it means in real life from her
album “Prism” and a 10+ song “Unconditionally.” “Did I get too close?” she
sings, “did I almost see what’s really on the inside? All your insecurities, all the dirty laundry
never made me blink one time.
Unconditional, unconditionally, I will love you unconditionally. There is no fear now. Let go and just be free. I’ll take your bad days with your good, walk
through the storm I would. I do it all
because I love you unconditionally. Open up your heart and just let it begin.” This should be the theme song of every
marriage relationship, and in that marriage which the song seems to be singing
about, the two are getting what they want, and hopefully that means that they
will be communicating completely with one another, our theme today.
Let’s
continue our countdown right now, and we will go all the way to number 1 with
the rest of our music today. At number 9
is a song about a man in a relationship who has discovered a
person that he really likes. “For a while there, it
was rough,” he sings, “but lately I’ve been doing better than the last four
Decembers I recall. And I see my family
every month and I found a girl my parents love.
She’ll come and stay the night and I think I
might have it all, and I thank God every day for the girl He sent my way. But I know the things He gives me, He can
take away, and I hold you every night and that’s a feeling I wanna get used to.
But there’s no man as terrified as the man who stands to lose you. I hope I don’t lose you. Please stay.
I want you, I need you. God, don’t take these beautiful things that
I’ve got.” The person is tuned into God,
it would seem, and is communicating quite honestly with his Higher Power, and usually
when a person can be this way with God, we will be very close to it to the ones
we love, communication being our theme today. From his album “Fireworks and Rollerblades,” his
song “Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone, former number 1 now at number 9 on MATT.
(triple) 9 BEAUTIFUL THINGS / Benson Boone
8 DIE
WITH A SMILE / Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
7 I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN
HEART / Taylor Swift
Part
9
From her album “The Tortured Poets
Department,” and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart”, this
is the world’s most popular artist right now, Ms. Taylor Swift at number 7 on
our playlist this morning on MATT. A
digression for one second here—Madonna was “Queen of Pop” back in 1989; Taylor
Swift would have that title today. IMHO,
f course. Her
song is the
message of feeling badly because a relationship is not
working out. The lady in
the relationship is swearing that she
will get over it, although you wonder whether she ever will. “I can read your mind,
‘she’s having the time of her life,’” the lady in the relationship sings,
“There in her glittering prime, I can show you lies ‘cause
I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my stuff. They said, ‘Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make it’. And I did: Lights, camera, smile even when
you want to die. He said he'd love me
all his life, but that life was too short. Breaking down, I hit the floor, all
the pieces of me shattered. I was grinning like I'm winning. I was hitting my marks 'cause
I can do it with a broken heart. I'm so depressed, I'm so obsessed with him,
but he avoids me like the plague. You
know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.” I changed some of the words. The lady in the song is only acting like
everything is alright, and the problem was no communication probably on both of
their parts, and therefore the relationship is over, communication being our
theme today.
Before her, we heard from Stefani Joanne Angelina
Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga and Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as
Bruno Mars and their number 8 song, “Die with a Smile”. It is
a love song, what I call a strong song because of its sound, but also because
of its message which is strong commitment to another. “I just woke up from a
dream,” they sing, “Where you and I had to say goodbye; and I don't know what
it all means, but since I survived, I realized wherever you go, that's where
I'll follow. Nobody's promised tomorrow,
so I'ma love you every night like it's the last
night. If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to
you. If the party was over and our time on Earth was through, I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile.” So, strong words of commitment, but there had
been struggles, it seems. They sing,
“Lost in the words that we scream, I don't even wanna
do this anymore 'cause you already know what you mean
to me. And our love's the only war worth fighting for.” Fitting into our theme, this week, they were
screaming at one another at one time, but it finally became good communication,
our theme today, since they are so close now.
Which brings us to our final break of the
day. Our final session will include the
songs and meanings of the top 6 songs on our countdown. To break with a quote from author Marthe Troly-Curtin: “Time
you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” Now that is
encouraging and a statement that some wasting time might be necessary for a
good life. Our show is MATT, and we’ll be right
back. I invite you to stay right where
you are.
Part 10
We welcome you back to MATT
as we celebrate the third Sunday of October together. We get closer to Halloween as all the stores
around us keep reminding us. This show
plays the top 10 songs of America, as well as some of the top 10 of the past, and we talk about their meanings, and how they can
make us be a little better than we are already.
I’m Fr. Mike, and we are ready to pursue our final portion of MATT
together as we consider one of the most important things that we do as human
beings, namely communicate well.
We are up to number 6 in our countdown,
and it is the second one from Teddy Swims in our top 10 right now. It is a song about
how to save one’s own life and walk out of an abusive relationship, and
therefore an extremely good song. “I
took a page out of your favorite book,” he begins his song. “You sold me lies
just by the way you look, taught me a language that I’ve never speak. That ain’t for me. You took me higher than I ever flew, too many
times, gave you a second chance. I’m just a man. No more thinkin’
about you late night, no more runnin’ around with
your friends now, done pickin’ up pieces of my soul
up off the floor. I said I would die for you, but I can’t take this pain no
more. I thought I was willin’ but tonight I save my
life when I showed you the door. I can’t
play this game no more.” In terms of our
theme this week as he speaks of lies and a language he does not use, he is
saying to the other in the relationship that their communication, our theme
today, was not what it should have been, and therefore the only thing to do is
break up. Jaten Collins Dimsdale,
that is Teddy Swims
here again from his album “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy, part 1,” and a 10+ song, former number 1 now at
number 6, “The Door” on MATT. Listen to
the words!
(triple) 6 THE DOOR / Teddy Swims
5 STARGAZING / Myles Smith
4 AUSTIN / Dasha
Part 11
Ms.
Anna Dasha Novotny there, better known simply as Dasha from her debut album
“Dirty Blonde,” at number 4 this morning and “Austin” on MATT. It is a song whose message is justifiable
anger of someone in a particular place.
The lady in the relationship sings: “We had a plan, move out of this town, West
to the sand, it's all we talked about lately. I'd pack the car, bring your
guitar, first thing at dawn, you'd queue the songs and we'd get goin'. But you weren't home, waited on the porch for ya, sat there alone, all throughout the morn' 'til I got a
hunch down in my gut and snuck around the back.
Empty cans and I'll be damned, your stuff was never packed. Did your
boots stop workin'? Did you burn through money? Was
the whiskey flowin'? Were you in a fight?” And
consequently, she sings, “I made my way back to LA, and that's where you'll be
forgotten. In forty years, you'll still be here, drunk, washed up in Austin.” In terms of our theme this week, it is clear that the problem was no communication, and
therefore she left.
Before her, we heard our number 5 song
this week, new in our countdown, our theme next week, and a song about when you
know you are in love. “Time stood
still,” he begins his song, “just like a photograph; you made me feel like this
would last forever. Lookin'
in your eyes, I see my whole life. They
say you know it when you know it and I know.
Promise that you'll hold me close, don't let me go. Take my heart, don't
break it; love me to my bones. All this
time I've wasted; you were right there all along, You and I stargazin',
intertwinin' souls. We were never strangers; I lose
my mind when I'm around you; how I come alive. When I'm without you I can't
help but feel so lost. I wanna give you all I've got.” He says that when you know that you are in
love, then you know, and he knows. And
one of the indications that a person knows he is in love with someone else is
that they are both communicating well, our theme today.
Continuing
our countdown, we move to the top 3, and at number 3 is a song about
blame. “I had some
help,” they sing, “It ain’t like I can make
this kind of mess all by myself. Don’t
act like you ain’t help[ing]
me pull that bottle off the shelf. Been
deep in every weekend if you couldn’t tell.
They say teamwork makes the dream work.
You think that you’re so innocent.
After all the stuff you did, I ain’t an angel;
you ain’t heaven-sent, can’t wash our hands off
this. It takes two to break a heart in
two, you blame me, and I blame you.” Of
course, as I have said, that is what it is from his point of view. The lady in the relationship probably has her
own version. Whatever the case, in terms
of our theme, blaming your partner is very poor communication with him or
her. In fact, blaming is usually a sign
of little communication. The is from
Austin Richard Post, that is Post Malone and his album “F-1 Trillion”,
Post Malone along with Morgan Wallen and their song “I Had Some Help” number 3
on MATT.
(double)
3 I HAD SOME HELP / Post Malone & Morgan Wallen
2 A BAR SONG / Shaboozey
Part
12
At
number 2 former number 1, Collins Obinna Chibueze, known as Shaboozey,
American musician /singer/ songwriter/ filmmaker and producer, and his song “A
Bar Song (Tipsy)” on MATT. And as one
would guess from its title, a song about drinking. He
begins his song by telling us that he works hard and has problems that he won’t
have when he’s gone. And then
presumably, he wants to relax from his work and problems by drinking alcohol.
“Someone, pour me up a double shot of whiskey. They know me and Jack Daniel's
got a history. There's a party downtown, near 5th Street. Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy. I've been boozey
since I left, I ain't changin'
for a check. Woke up drunk at 10 am, we gon'[na] do this stuff again. Tell your girl to bring a
friend.” I changed a word in the
song. In terms of our theme today, one
could probably say that the more one partakes in alcohol, the less good
communication there is.
And
the new number 1 song is from
Billie Eilish, a song about falling in love with a person that she wants
to "stick together" with. It
is her latest from her album “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, and her song “Birds of a
Feather”. The love to her significant
other brings her to tears and begs the lover to never end their
relationship. “I want you to stay 'til
I'm in the grave”, she begins, “'til I rot away, dead
and buried, ‘til I'm in the casket you carry.
If you go, I'm goin' too / 'cause
it was always you and if I'm turnin' blue, please
don't save me. Nothin'
left to lose without my baby. Birds of a
feather we should stick together. And I
don't know what I'm cryin' for; I don't think I could
love you more. It might not be long, but
I'll love you 'til the day that I die, ‘til the light leaves my eyes, ‘til the
day that I die.” So, the lady in the
relationship is truly committed to the other and presuming that the other in
the relationship feels the same way, that commitment will stay there. And you can bet that if the commitment is there,
there is good communication, our theme today.
And that has been our theme today, what
do the songs of our show suggest about the art of sincere talking to one
another. It came from Madonna’s song,
one of her excellent songs, I believe, “Like a Prayer.” My prayer—pun intended—for you and for me is that we will always be able
to communicate well with one another and with our Creator. Thanks for the privilege of your time today
and to our producers and to our sponsors, especially Holy Family Elementary
School in Hays, Hays Car and Truck Alignment, and Thomas More Prep-Marian
Junior and Senior High School in Hays.
If you would like to request a song to be studied or want to comment on
any of my comments, feel free to write me here at KJLS-FM, Hays, KS 67601 or e-mail
me at frmikescully@yahoo.com. My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find a transcript of the show
and some meditations on the Gospels, these songs and some great movies. Our media meditation today is some thoughts
on the final session of the inspiring movie “The Miracle Season”. A reminder that you can join us on the web
every Sunday morning at 10 wherever you are: simply choose www.hayspost.com on your internet provider and click on Mix
103 at 10 am CDT for another couple weeks anyway. Before we take our leave, one final thought
from Wayne Gretzky of hockey fame: “You miss 100 percent of
shots you never take.” Yes, indeed.
As you listen to the number 1 song in our area, from Billie Eilish and
her song “Birds of a Feather,” and as we lead into it, may I remind you that
you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103 and our advice to you is, among
the other things we have said, hold a good
thought. From beautiful downtown Lawrence, KS, my name
is Fr. Mike Scully. Be safe, peace to
you, and be good!
1 BIRDS OF A FEATHER / Billie Eilish
October 13, 2024
“What Should Be Taught”
Part 1
Good morning, Central Kansas and around the world! Welcome to “Message at the Top,” and happy
Fall again, as we are aware of the beautiful about-to-turn landscape around
us. Welcome to Mix 103’s unique top 10
show, “Message at the Top”. I am Fr.
Mike, your host; get ready for the top 10 songs of our area as determined by
our own research and Mediabase 24-7. We here at Mix 103 continue to give you only
the very best in radio entertainment, / and that includes not only the songs
that we play, but their messages as well.
This morning we have top 10 songs from among
others, Billie Eilish, Teddy Swims and Sabrina Carpenter; and we have past top
10’s as well from people like Nickelback and birthday person Paul Simon.
It is also John Mayer’s birthday on Wednesday when he will be
47 years old. He had a song in the top
10 in 2004 that is an amazing song; it brings out the importance of parenting,
what children learn and why they learn it, and I’d like to call it to our minds
today. By way of preparation before we
get to the song, here is a prose statement from a lady by the name of Dorothy
Law Nolte as found in her book: Children Learn What They Live: Parenting To Inspire Values.
Here is her analysis which is the foundation of her book:
If
children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If
children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If
children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If
children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If
children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If
children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If
children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If
children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If
children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If
children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If
children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If
children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If
children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If
children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in
those about them.
If
children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which
to live.
Now, that is one great reading and so very true. I shortened it, and you can find the complete reading in her book. It ought to be on the wall of every family dwelling in the world.
John Mayer’s song may not be as erudite as Dorothy Law Nolte’s
reading, but it says basically the same thing.
“I know a girl,” he begins his song, “she puts the color inside of my
world, but she’s just like a maze,” he says.
“Now I’m starting to see, maybe it’s got nothing to do with me.” He then goes into a directive to parents:
“Fathers, be good to your daughters, daughters will love like you do. Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, so
mothers, be good to your daughters too.
You see that skin? It’s the same
she’s been standing in. Since the day
she saw him walking away, now she’s left cleaning up the mess he made.” Her father left, and that has affected her
forever.
He inspires the title of our show this morning with the theme
“What Should Be Taught”. This is a 10+
song from his album “Heavier Things” from the year 2004, John Mayer and his
song “Daughters,” “Song of the Year” in the 2005 Grammys on MATT.
(double) DAUGHTERS / John Mayer
NEW LIGHT / John Mayer
Part
2
Double John Mayer there and his song from 2018 from his album
“Sob Rock”, his song “New Light” on MATT.
It is a song of longing for the love of a friend. “I’m the boy in your other phone lighting up
inside your drawer at home all alone. We
talk and then you walk away every day.
You don’t think twice ‘bout me. But if you give me just one night,
you’re gonna see me in a new light. I want a take two, I want to break through; I
wanna know the real thing so I can see you in a new
light.” He wants their love to be real,
but he seems more interested than his friend is, and in terms of our theme
which he gave us with his song “Daughters,” one of the things that should be
taught is that sometimes we have to say goodbye to a relationship even when we
don’t want to.
Our first
triple play of the day begins with an
interesting song that seems to be saying that it’s okay to be second. The person in the song is second in a
relationship and someone else is first.
“All the right friends in all the right places,” they sing, “We’re goin’ down. They’ve
got all the right moves in all the right faces.
We’re goin’ down. Let’s paint the picture of the perfect
place. They’ve got it better than when
anyone’s told you. I know we’ve got it
good, but they’ve got it made, and the grass is getting greener each day. I know things are looking up, but soon
they’ll take us down before anybody’s knowing our name.” So, a song about losing out on
something. The video seems to be about a
formal dance contest, and maybe the song is the story of a couple losing out to
another couple. When it comes to our
theme this week, “What Should Be Taught” perhaps learning that we don’t have to
always be the best but we always have to do the best
that we can / is something that really should be taught. Good message, I believe. MATT presenting here the group OneRepublic
from their album “Waking Up”, and their song from 2009, “All the Right Moves”
on MATT.
(triple) ALL THE RIGHT MOVES / OneRepublic
FEEL IT STILL / Portugal.The
Man
10 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE / Sabrina Carpenter
Part 3
Our top 10 songs
will come in countdown fashion this morning, and that one is at number 10 and a
song that we used last week as our theme when we spoke about when a breakup
should happen. It is from her album
“Short ‘n Sweet,” Sabrina Carpenter and “Please Please
Please”. It is a song by the lady in the relationship to
her boyfriend who is acting out in a negative way. “I know I have good judgment; I know I have
good taste;” she sings, “It's funny and it's ironic that only I feel that
way. I promise 'em
that you're different and everyone makes mistakes. I heard that you're an
actor, so act like a stand-up guy; whatever devil's
inside you, don't let him out tonight. I tell them it's just your culture and
everyone rolls their eye. Please,
please, please, don't prove I'm right and please, please, please, don't bring
me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice; heartbreak is one thing, my
ego's another, I beg you, don't embarrass me.”
And you’re led to believe from the rest of the song and video, that he doesn’t
heed her advice. When we talk of
romantic love, it obviously takes both to want it. And in terms of our theme this week, every
dating couple should be taught that sometimes you just have
to let a relationship cease.
Before her, we heard a song from 2017
from the band Portugal.The
Man and their song “Feel It Still”.
“Can’t keep my hands to myself,” they sing, “think I’ll dust ‘em off, put ‘em back up on the
shelf in case my little baby girl is in need.
Am I coming out of left field?
I’m a rebel just for kicks, now I been feeling it since 1966, now might
be over now, but I feel it still. Let me
kick it like it’s 1986, now might be over now, but I feel it still. Is it coming?” It seems to be a song in which the person is
remembering what it was like before and now it’s over, but he would like the
feeling again. In terms of our theme
today, one of the things that should be taught to all of us is to realize that
the past was good, even if there was some adversity because you learn from it,
and then you can be thankful that you did learn.
Important words being said there, not because I said them, but
coming from these songs and if people would know them, we’d be able to
understand our lives a little more, I believe.
What great messages these songs have.
We will continue our countdown and extras after our first break of the
day. Let me take you to that break with
a thought. It comes from Tullulah
Bankhead from a number of years ago, and a really good
statement of fact: “If
I had my life to live again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.” Now, that is one true statement and the
advice that should be taught: make it a point to try to stay away from the
mistakes. Our show is called MATT; I am
Fr. Mike, and I hope your Sunday is a good one.
Don’t go way; “Message at the Top” on today’s best music Mix 103 will be
right back.
COMMERCIAL
BREAK
Part 4
This is MATT and it is so good to have you back with us. We welcome you back to the top 10 songs of
our area as of the week ending today, and we welcome you back to some top 10
songs of the past as well. And with our
music, we always give the meanings of the songs. I’m Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10
show of its kind in this area, maybe in the world, the show that takes the top
songs and explains their messages, and then we call the show “Message at the
Top.” The topic of our show this morning
was given to us by birthday person John Mayer and his excellent teaching song,
“Daughters.”
Speaking of birthdays, let’s go to one of the greatest living
songwriters of all time, I believe, Paul Frederic Simon, that is Paul
Simon. His birthday is this coming
Friday when he will be 83 years old. The
song says learning is important, and hopefully, those of you who are into
education at this time can see that. He
does it in a clever way saying that some of the things he learned were learned
away from school—kodachrome and what he learned in
school was only black and white. In terms of our theme, I believe every one of
us should be taught to learn from any experience. I know the song is a little out of our usual
fare of songs, but he sings it every time he has a concert in our modern
day. How’s that for
rationalization. The song is from 1973
from his album “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon,” his song
“Kodachrome”, the great Paul Simon on MATT.
(double) KODACHROME / Paul Simon
9 BEAUTIFUL THINGS / Benson Boone
Part
5
From
his album “Fireworks and Rollerblades,” that was Benson Boone at number 9,
“Beautiful Things” on MATT, a song about a man in a
relationship who has discovered a person that he really likes. “For a while there, it was rough,” he sings, “but
lately I’ve been doing better than the last four Decembers I recall. And I see my family every month and I found a
girl my parents love. She’ll come and
stay the night and I think I might have it all, and I
thank God every day for the girl He sent my way. But I know the things He gives me, He can
take away, and I hold you every night and that’s a feeling I wanna get used to.
But there’s no man as terrified as the man who stands to lose you. I hope I don’t lose you. Please stay.
I want you, I need you. God, don’t take these beautiful things that
I’ve got.” The person is tuned into God,
it would seem, and for me anyway, it is one of the things that should be taught
to our world, our theme today.
Another triple play is directly in front of us right now, and
it continues our countdown at number 8 and a song whose message is one
of feeling badly because a relationship is not working out. The lady in the relationship is swearing that she will get over it, although you
wonder whether she ever will. “I
can read your mind, ‘she’s having the time of her life,’” the lady in the
relationship sings, “There in her glittering prime, I can show you lies ‘cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my stuff. They
said, ‘Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make
it’. And I did: Lights, camera, smile
even when you want to die. He said he'd
love me all his life, but that life was too short. Breaking down, I hit the
floor, all the pieces of me shattered. I was grinning like I'm winning. I was hitting my marks 'cause
I can do it with a broken heart. I'm so depressed, I'm so obsessed with him,
but he avoids me like the plague. You
know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.” I changed some of the words. The lady in the song is only acting like
everything is alright, and so such an attitude is a problem, and in terms of
our theme, we must be taught that one of the tough things in life is learning
to live through problem times.
From her album “The Tortured Poets Department,” and
“I Can Do It with a Broken Heart”, this is the world’s
most popular artist right now, Ms. Taylor Swift at number 8 on our playlist
this morning, and we follow this one with another one of her songs, on
MATT.
(triple) 8 I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN HEART / Taylor
Swift
WILLOW / Taylor Swift
7 DIE WITH A SMILE /
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Part
6
The unique duo, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known
as Lady Gaga and Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as Bruno Mars, number 7 and
“Die With a Smile” on MATT. It is
a love song, what I call a strong song because of its sound, but also because
of its message which is strong commitment to another. “I just woke up from a
dream,” they sing, “Where you and I had to say goodbye; and I don't know what
it all means, but since I survived, I realized wherever you go, that's where
I'll follow. Nobody's promised tomorrow,
so I'ma love you every night like it's the last
night. If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to
you. If the party was over and our time on Earth was through, I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile.” So, strong words of commitment, but there had
been struggles, it seems. They sing,
“Lost in the words that we scream, I don't even wanna
do this anymore 'cause you already know what you mean
to me. And our love's the only war worth fighting for.” Fitting into our theme, this week, something
that should be taught to all of us is that a strong commitment can come even
though there are difficulties discovering it.
Before them, we heard from her album “Evermore,” Time’s Person of the Year
last year, Ms. Taylor Swift and her song at number 3 of all the songs of 2021,
“Willow”. It
is a song about wanting
to be in love. She said in an interview:
the song is about intrigue, desire and the complexity that goes into wanting
someone. I think it sounds like casting
a spell to make somebody fall in love with a person. “I’m like the water when your ship rolled in
that night,” she sings, “rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife
and it was an open/shut case, I never would’ve known from that look on your
face, lost in your current like a priceless wine. The more that you say, the less I know. Wherever you stray, I follow. I’m beggin’ for you
to take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your
wind, head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in as if you were a
mythical thing.” So, a love song which
is hoping that the other pays attention to her.
In terms of our theme today, one of the things that should be taught is
how to love well, and who should teach it?
Lots of people, but especially parents, I believe. My opinion, of course.
As always, we have some interesting thoughts about some very
real love and life situations in these songs.
The theme of MATT this morning is “What Should Be Taught”. Our next session of music and message will
explore that theme with top 10 music at the present time and from the past as
well. In fact, get ready for music from
the top 10 present in the persons of Teddy Swims, Dasha and Post Malone and also music from Kid Rock, the band lovelytheband, and
Shawn Mendes. Let me take you to break
with this thought. It comes from Pearl
S. Buck, the famous early advocate for women’s rights, born in Hillsboro, West
Virginia by the way, not far from my home town: “Every great mistake has a half-way moment,
a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.” Now that is encouraging—mistakes
made about life have some time when we can re-think what we’re going to
do. Advice to remember. You bet. I’m Fr. Mike for “Message at the Top” on
today’s best music Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL
BREAK
Part 7
This
is “Message at the Top” on today’s best music Mix 103, and what we often call
the MATT music network. Thank you for
being here this morning. I am Fr. Mike,
ready to lead you through the second hour of our show, and songs that talk
about life subjects that range from leaving a bad relationship to blaming
others. We are pursuing a theme that is
discovering what the songs of our show say in the form of advice concerning
what should be taught. It came from a
song from birthday person on Wednesday John Mayer and his excellent song
“Daughters.”
To begin our second hour together, let’s go back to the year
of 2008 and what I call a happy immoral song.
"It was 1989," he begins his song, "my thoughts were
short, my hair was long. She was
seventeen. And we were trying different things, we were smoking funny things,
making love out by the lake, sipping whiskey out of the bottle, not thinking
about tomorrow, singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ all summer long." What interests me about the song is how he
closes it. To me, he uses thoughts that
can bring about some deep thinking. He
sings: "Now, nothing seems as strange as when the leaves began to change
or how we thought those days would never end." The song says, I believe, that we can think
about the past and enjoy it, but the fact is that the leaves will change—time
will march on. The past was a time when
"thoughts were short," and now his thoughts must turn to
maturity. In terms of our theme, that is what should be
taught—we must move on to greater maturity in our lives if we are to live
well. This is Robert James Ritchie,
better known as Kid Rock, and his song from his album with the ominous name of “Rock ‘N Roll Jesus,” from 2008, “All Summer Long” on
MATT.
(triple) ALL SUMMER LONG / Kid Rock
BROKEN / lovelytheband
6 THE DOOR / Teddy Swims
Part 8
We have a new number 1 song since that one was number 1 last
week and is number 6 right now in our countdown. It is a song is from Jaten
Collins Dimsdale, that is Teddy Swims, who was 32 years old a couple weeks ago, and a
song about how people play games in love relationships, from
his album “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy, part 1,”
and a 10+ song “The Door”. It is a song about how to save one’s own
life and walk out of an abusive relationship, and therefore an extremely good
song. “I took a page out of your
favorite book,” he begins his song. “You sold me lies just by the way you look,
taught me a language that I’ve never speak. That ain’t
for me. You took me higher than I ever flew, too many times, gave you a second
chance. I’m just a man. No more thinkin’ about you
late night, no more runnin’ around with your friends
now, done pickin’ up pieces of my soul up off the
floor. I said I would die for you, but I can’t take this pain no more. I
thought I was willin’ but tonight I save my life when
I showed you the door. I can’t play this
game no more.” In terms of our theme
this week, and I said this before with Sabrina Carpenter’s song, one of the
things that must be taught and learned in life is when to let a relationship
cease.
Before
him, we heard from the band lovelytheband,
all one word, formed in Los Angeles a couple years ago, and their song “Broken”
from their album “Finding It Hard to Smile”.
It is a song about loneliness and the couple is trying to get over the
loneliness by spending time together. “I
like that you’re broken,” they sing , “broken like me. Maybe that makes me a fool. I like that you’re lonely, lonely like me, I
could be lonely with you.” They met at a
party, and they sing “These aren’t my people, these aren’t my friends. She grabbed my face and said I like that
you’re broken, broken like me, lonely like me.”
So, both of them lonely and broken, but you get
the feeling that they will not remain that way very long since they are getting
to know each other, and that is exactly what should be taught, our theme today,
especially as a couple begins dating.
Let’s stay in the top 10 right now, and listen to the song at
number 5, and a song about a place—at least the title is, but it is a message
about justifiable anger of someone in that place at one time. The lady in the relationship sings: “We
had a plan, move out of this town, West to the sand, it's all we talked about
lately. I'd pack the car, bring your guitar, first thing at dawn, you'd queue
the songs and we'd get goin'. But you weren't home,
waited on the porch for ya, sat there alone, all
throughout the morn' 'til I got a hunch down in my gut and snuck around the
back. Empty cans and I'll be damned,
your stuff was never packed. Did your boots stop workin'?
Did you burn through money? Was the whiskey flowin'?
Were you in a fight?” And consequently, she sings, “I made my way back to LA,
and that's where you'll be forgotten. In forty years, you'll still be here,
drunk, washed up in Austin.” In terms of our theme
this week, there are some things that can be taught only by the hard way—living
through them, and the lady in that relationship did exactly that. Ms. Anna Dasha Novotny here, better known
simply as Dasha from her debut album “Dirty Blonde,” at number 5 this morning
and “Austin” on MATT.
(triple) 5 AUSTIN / Dasha
TREAT YOU BETTER / Shawn
Mendes
4 I HAD SOME HELP / Post
Malone & Morgan Wallen
Part
9
From Post Malone’s album “F-1 Trillion”,
Post Malone along with Morgan Wallen and their song “I Had Some Help” number 4
on MATT. It is a song about blame. “I
had some help,” they sing, “It ain’t like I can make this kind of mess all by myself. Don’t act like you ain’t
help[ing] me pull that bottle off the shelf. Been deep in every weekend if you couldn’t
tell. They say teamwork makes the dream
work. You think that you’re so
innocent. After all the stuff you did, I
ain’t an angel; you ain’t
heaven-sent, can’t wash our hands off this.
It takes two to break a heart in two, you blame me, and I blame
you.” Of course, as I have said, that is
what it is from his point of view.
The lady in the relationship probably has her own version. Whatever the case, what should be taught here,
our theme today, is that the ”blame game” ruins relationships.
Before them, we heard the song
which is our meditation for today on my website www.frmikescully.com from Shawn
Mendes, from his album “Illuminate” and his song “Treat You Better”. It is a very interesting song that shows some
domestic violence in the video, and at the end of the video, the domestic
violence hotline is listed. It is the
story of a young man who knows that the girlfriend that he would like / is
dating someone else, but that someone else is not treating her correctly. The video points out the problem very
well. He sings that he knows the other
guy is not right for her, and he senses that she knows it also. “I know I can treat you better than he can,”
he sings, “And any girl like you deserves a gentleman.” He asks her why she’s spending time with that
guy and begs her to come over to him. In
fact, he sings, “I’ll stop time for you the second you say you’d like me to; I
promise I’ll never let you down.” He’s
correct not necessarily that she should come to him, but in terms of our
theme, what should be taught in life?
Whenever there is any physical hitting or the like, you need to get out
of that relationship right away.
We are talking of what should be taught to all of us, the
thought having come from John Mayer’s song “Daughters” the Song of the Year in
2005. We have another half hour to go
yet as we listen to some more music and messages. A thought to take us out of this segment: it
was attributed to Benjamin Franklin, and I just love this one. “He
that waits upon fortune / is never sure of a dinner.” Think about that. My comment: we can’t just wait for life to
happen—we have to work at it. Now that is something that should be
taught. Don’t go way—we’ll be right back
with MATT on Mix 103.
Part 10
You, my friends, are in tune with “Message at the Top,” your top
10 show on today’s best music Mix 103.
Welcome back to the songs that have been most popular in this area
during this week which ends today, the second Sunday in October 2024. Our show takes the top 10 from today and
yesterday and studies their messages, and then, we call our show MATT. I’m your host Fr. Mike. It’s great to have you here. We have taken our theme from the song
“Daughters” from John Mayer and we are in the process of giving you all of the songs our show with the theme of “what should be
taught to us.”
During this segment, let’s go back to the year 2007 and review
the excellent top 3 songs of that whole year.
All 3 of them could have been number 1 as far as I am concerned. They are all 10+ songs. At number 1 that year is a song whose setting
is a man in the relationship who is sharing real love with his friend, and
having that love inspires him to think about the complicated world he is
in. The words of the refrain are: “If
everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone
shared and swallowed their pride, then we’d see the day when nobody died. And I’m singing, amen, I’m alive.” And they sing: “As we lie beneath the stars,
we realize how small we are. If they
could love like you and me, imagine what the world could be.” That is, we will have eternal life when we
learn to love each other. That is great theology and it gives rise to great thinking. What should be taught, our theme today, could
cure our world—care about others, care about everyone. Great song.
It is from their album “All The Right Reasons,”
Nickelback and number 1 in 2007 “If
Everyone Cared” on MATT.
(triple) IF EVERYONE CARED / Nickelback
WAITING
ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE / John Mayer
HOW FAR WE’VE COME / Matchbox Twenty
Part 11
A song about the idea of studying ourselves again, From their album, “Exile on Mainstream,” Matchbox Twenty and
the number 3 song of meaning of 2007, “How Far We’ve Come” on MATT. “Waking up at the start of the end of the
world,” they begin their song, “but it’s feeling just like every morning
before; now, I wonder what my life is going to mean if it’s gone. The cars are moving like a half a mile an
hour if that, I started staring at the passengers
waving goodbye. Can you tell me what was
ever really special about me all this time. But I believe the world is burning to the
ground, oh well, I guess we’re gonna find out. Let’s see how far we’ve come. I sat down on the street and took a look at myself.
Let’s see how far we’ve come.”
The song is saying that we have to study what
we’re doing because the world could be ending at any moment, with the implicit
thought that maybe we should do something about our lives. What should be taught, our theme today? Maybe we should sit down with ourselves
sometime this week and ask just how far we’ve come at being a good person.
And the song at number 2 that year—2007—was before them, from
his album “Continuum,” and the song “Waiting On The
World To Change,” birthday person Wednesday John Mayer again. It places blame on people who are responsible
for some evil in our world. “Me and my
friends,” he sings, “we’re all misunderstood.
They say we stand for nothing and there’s no way we ever could. Now we see everything that’s going wrong with
the world, and those who lead it. We
just feel like we don’t have the means to rise above and beat it. So we keep waiting,
waiting for the world to change. It’s
hard to beat the system, when we’re standing at a distance. Now if we had the power to bring our
neighbors home from war, they would have never missed a Christmas, no more
ribbons on their door.” And he says that
his generation is going to change some things: “One day our generation is gonna rule the population,” he sings, and the implicit
statement is that—then, things will change.
He is singing with confidence that he and his generation can change the
future, and it is something that everyone of us should be taught, our theme
today.
From 2007, let’s go to today, October 13, 2024
and listen to the top 3 songs as of this week according to your requests and Mediabase 24-7. At
number 3 is a song about drinking. He begins his song by telling us that he
works hard and has problems that he won’t have when he’s gone. And then presumably, he wants to relax from
his work and problems by drinking alcohol. “Someone, pour me up a double shot
of whiskey. They know me and Jack Daniel's got a history. There's a party
downtown, near 5th Street. Everybody at the bar gettin'
tipsy. I've been boozey since I left, I ain't changin' for a check. Woke
up drunk at 10 am, we gon'[na]
do this stuff again. Tell your girl to bring a friend.” I changed a word in the song. He is looking for relaxation to be sure, and
probably too much relaxation and that which should be taught, our theme? Easy—it’s okay to relax, but with
moderation. At number 3 former number
1, Collins Obinna Chibueze, known as Shaboozey, American musician
/singer/ songwriter/ filmmaker and producer, and his song “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” on
MATT.
(double) 3 A BAR SONG / Shaboozey
2 BIRDS OF A FEATHER / Billie Eilish
Part
12
Moving up to number 2 in our countdown, a song from Billie Eilish about falling in love with
a person that she wants to "stick together" with. It is her latest from her album “Hit Me Hard
and Soft”, and her song “Birds of a Feather” on MATT. The love to her significant other brings her
to tears and begs the lover to never end their relationship. “I want you to stay 'til I'm in the grave”,
she begins, “'til I rot away, dead and buried, ‘til
I'm in the casket you carry. If you go,
I'm goin' too / 'cause it
was always you and if I'm turnin' blue, please don't
save me. Nothin'
left to lose without my baby. Birds of a
feather we should stick together. And I
don't know what I'm cryin' for; I don't think I could
love you more. It might not be long, but
I'll love you 'til the day that I die, ‘til the light leaves my eyes, ‘til the
day that I die.” So, the lady in the
relationship is truly committed to the other and presuming that the other in
the relationship feels the same way, that commitment will stay there. And what should be taught from the song, our
theme today? A great lesson: some things
really do work out!
And
moving back into number 1, a song that has been there before, Irish
singer/songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, better known simply as Hozier, and
his song “Too Sweet”. In
the song, the
man in the relationship talks of the lifestyle of each of the partners. His own is a late-night one along with a
little too much relaxation / and the partner is an early bird with a cautious
lifestyle. “It can’t be said I’m an
early bird, it’s ten o’clock before I say a word. I can never tell how you sleep so well. You keep telling me to live right, to go to
bed before the daylight, but then you wake up for the sunrise. But while in this world, I think I’ll take my
whiskey neat, my coffee black and my bed at three. You’re too sweet for me.” Sometimes opposites attract when people are
discovering love, but what must be taught, our theme today, is that in order for such relationships to work, they will have to
make some decisions to compromise.
That theme of “what should be taught” was taken from birthday
person Wednesday John Mayer and his excellent song “Daughters.” And we have given you all the songs on our
playlist in countdown fashion, interspersed with songs from our extensive
playlist. My prayer for you and me is
that we will determine what should be taught in our world, and then take the
time to learn it. My thanks to our
producers and sponsors, especially our sponsors at Hays Car and Truck
Alignment, Holy Family Elementary School in Hays, and Thomas More Prep-Marian
Junior and Senior High School in Hays.
If you want to contact me by mail, I hope you do so at KJLS radio, Hays,
KS, 67601 or my e-mail address is frmikescully@yahoo.com. My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find some meditations on
the Gospels, these songs and some great movies and a transcript of this
show. On that website today is a
meditation on the song “Treat You Better” which we played earlier. If you want to join us on the web, go to www.hayspost.com and click on Mix 103 at
10am Sunday morning. A final thought
from leadership specialist Elbert Hubbard: “The greatest mistake a man can make is to be afraid of making
one.” We have to be
cautious about our living, but we still have to live, and sometimes we will
make mistakes, but we have to lift ourselves right up and go at life again as
best as we can. As we close with
Hozier’s song “Too Sweet”, may I remind you that you are listening to today’s
best music Mix 103, and among the other things that we have said today, our
advice is to hold a good thought. From beautiful downtown Lawrence, KS, my name
is Fr. Mike Scully.
Be safe, peace to you, and be good.
1 TOO SWEET / Hozier