KJLS-FM 103.3 10am Sundays
July 12, 2026
Remembering a Past Love
Part 1
Good morning, Central Kansas and around the world! Thank you for joining us as we continue to celebrate our July summer. I hope your day so far is a happy one and we welcome you to MATT on today’s best music Mix 103. It’s great to have you with us today as we look at the top 10 songs of yesterday and today, as we say. I’m Fr. Mike, your host for MATT and it’s my pleasure to serve us up some great songs and some great messages. We take the most popular songs of the past 46 years concentrating on the last couple years and talk about their messages and exactly what they should mean for us. The guiding thought of our show is to enjoy the music, and listen to the message! Last week we talked about our nation’s 250th birthday and our theme centered around finding the self-evident truths in our lives.
This morning we will use Taylor Swift’s latest song from the highly ranked movie “Toy Story 5.” The song is the story line of the movie, and in particular the journey of the character Jessie, depicting the concepts of reunion and memory, and the emotions that go with it. Taylor Swift wrote it after she had watched the movie. “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer,” she begins her song, “parachutes for the free fall of being younger. I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps running wild. It’s been a long time; life has ways of leaving those days behind. But seeing you tonight, I remembered I loved you, came back when it mattered. I saw you, standing there in the light of the window, wearing that same smile. Man, it’s been a while, but I knew it, I knew you.” Remembering a past love is its theme, and a pretty good guide for us this morning—what are some characteristics of past love that make it remembered.
In my preparation for the show I ran across a poem by New England poet Sam Walter Foss that reminds us that we are here to help one another along life’s journey. Our show today will address past love of others, and this poem sets the tone.
THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that swell apart,
In a fellow-less firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by—
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Our theme this week stresses the love that is remembered and why and this is Taylor Swift’s latest song “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the soundtrack of the movie “Toy Story 5”, number 5 this week on MATT.
(double) 5 I KNEW IT, I KNEW YOU / Taylor Swift
WILDEST DREAMS / Taylor Swift
Part 2
A double play from Ms. Taylor Alison Swift Kelce (or whatever her professional name is now), from her award winning album “1989”, and her song “Wildest Dreams” from 2014. 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.” She is anticipating the breakup, and she is feeling the pain. In terms of our theme, she is remembering a past love and is pretty sure it will not last.
Our first triple play today begins with a song that is the theme of another great movie called “The Breakfast Club.” It is a song asking to be recognized. I have used it over the years to be the statement of what we call “invisible kids” in our schools, young people who just attend school, and really don’t get involved in anything else, who are too shy to do the things that “visible kids” would do. They are calling out to the members of the school who can do the leadership and do the activities, and they basically are saying the words of the song: “Don’t you forget about me, will you stand above me? [Will you] look my way, never love me. Will you recognize me, call my name. As you walk on by, will you call my name?” It is a love song, actually, with the words directed toward one particular person of the past, but I think it can be extended to include everyone. It is a 10+ category of meaning song for me, the highest I get, the band that is still on the music scene, Simple Minds, 1985 was the year of the song and movie, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” on MATT.
(triple) DON’T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME) / Simple Minds
WITHOUT /YOU / The Kid Laroi
10 MAN I NEED / Olivia Dean
Part 3
The first song in the top 10 this morning from Olivia Dean, and a song looking for what I have called the virtue which is most needed in any relationship, namely, communication. It comes from her album “The Art of Loving,” and her song “Man I Need”, number 10 this week, former number 1. “Talk to me,” she begins her song, “looks like we’re making up for lost time; need you to spell it out for me. Don’t be shy, just come be the man I need. Tell me you got something to give. I want it. I kinda like when you call me wonderful, whatever the type of talk it is. Come on then, I gotta know you’re meant to be the man I need. Talk to me. I’d like to think you feel the same way, but I can’t tell with you sometimes. So, let’s get on the same page. Stop making me read between the lines.” So, communication,...and, in terms of our theme, as we look at past love relationships, that which we should study most is how we communicated with each other.
Before her, we heard the song that is featured on my website on Wednesday, from Australian singer Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, that is, The Kid Laroi, and his song “Without You”, from the top 10 of all of the songs of meaning of 2021. His song is about not being able to say the word “sorry.” “You cut out a piece of me,” he sings, “and now I’m bleeding internally, left here without you. And it hurts for me to think about what life could possibly be like without you. I can’t believe that you wouldn’t believe me. The heck with all of your reasons, I lost my cool, you know I didn’t mean it. Now I see it, you run and repeat. And I can’t take it back, so in the past is where we’ll leave it. So there you go, I’ll never find the words to say I’m sorry, but I’m scared to be alone.” And that leaves the person in a horrible way. He’ll never be able to get over the hurt, because he will only be able to do it when he is able to say the words, “I’m sorry.” In terms of our theme, one of the really important things to remember about the past is that we often must say “I’m sorry” for what we may have done.
We have another uninterrupted 30 minutes of song and message in just a few minutes. During that next segment, we will be able to hear top 10 music past and present from in order of appearance: the band OneRepublic and a song new to our top 10, Sarah McLachlan, the band Nickelback, Shrillex and friends, and Harry Styles. Before we go to break, here is a thought from author Phillip Bernstein, and a really good thought: “We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.” One of the ways to help our past is to count our blessings in the present. You bet. Our show is “Message at the Top”, I am Fr. Mike, and I hope your Sunday morning is a good one. Don’t go way; we’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 4
It is great to have you back with us. Thank you for joining us; we welcome you back to the top 10 songs of our area as of the week ending today, July 12, 2026, the second Sunday of the very hot month of July. Hang in there—there is more hot weather to come, but we will cool off, eventually. I’m Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10 show of its kind in this area, and maybe the whole world. We take the top 10 songs of the present and past and explain their messages, and then we call the show “Message at the Top.” The topic of our show this morning was given to us by Taylor Swift and her song “I knew It, I Knew You” and we are exploring some thoughts on “past loves.”
Right now, let’s go to a double play, the first of which is a song that is new to our top 10 this week, and according to the leader of the band OneRepublic, it highlights the the importance of valuing love over material wealth. “I need your love,” they begin the song, “don’t need the buzz or the credit cards, the house on the hill with a perfect yard, don’t gotta see my name on the boulevard, I don’t need a million dollars giving me expensive problems; oh, don’t need a drink just to fill the cup, I need your love.” And they close their song with a strong sense of a forever commitment: “And when all of our time starts to slip away, I’m gonna love those lines, gonna love your shades of grey. You know that I have made a million mistakes, but I won’t make a million dollars at least not with another.” In terms of our theme, they are remembering a past love only in the sense that it is a present love as well, a statement of strong commitment. It will be on their next album, number 9 on our countdown right now, their song “Need Your Love”, OneRepublic on MATT.
(double) 9 NEED YOUR LOVE / OneRepublic
I WILL REMEMBER YOU / Sarah Mclachlan
Part 5
Sarah McLachlan there and her 1995 song “I Will Remember You” from her album “Mirrorball” on MATT. “Clinging to a past … doesn’t let me choose,” she sings. The person to whom she is clinging gave her everything, she sings, but now the person is gone. So she reflects, “I will remember you; will you remember me?” Meditating further on the past, she sings, “Don’t let your life pass you by; weep not for the memories.” She could easily feel the attraction of the past, but she knew that she had to deal with the present—without the presence of someone she loved—as difficult as it may have been. But it’s what must be done. In terms of our theme, she can easily learn about love from the past, but not so easily carry it out in the present.
Another triple play now, and let’s begin it with an interesting song and a little difficult to figure out. The person in the song is looking back at his life as he looks at a photo album. He realizes that he should move on, but he seems to be having a difficult time doing it. “Every memory of looking out the back door, I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor. It’s hard to say it, time to say it—goodbye, goodbye. I miss that town,” he sings, “I miss the faces, you can’t erase, you can’t replace it, I miss it now, I can’t believe it. So hard to stay, so hard to leave it.” The person in the song has almost learned something--twice in the song, he is thinking about what he could learn, and he doesn’t finish the thought. And they close the song with the incomplete sentence: “Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh, every time I do it makes me…--and the song ends, as if to say maybe there is something further that should be learned. The song basically is about remembering a past love by looking at photographs, our theme today. This is the Canadian band Nickelback and their song from 2005 from their album “All The Right Reasons”, “Photograph” on MATT.
(triple) PHOTOGRAPH / Nickelback
WHERE ARE U NOW / Shrillex & Diplo f/ Justin Bieber
8 AMERICAN GIRLS / Harry Styles
Part 6
Harry Styles from his album “Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally,” his song “American Girls” number 8 this morning on MATT. The song is a philosophical thought about dating. Harry Styles said that the song gave him the opportunity to look at his own dating patterns. “Right at home with perfect timing,” he begins his song, “A face that knows her perfect lighting ‘cause time will show that you should try it, those American girls you spend your life with. I’ve known you for ages, it’s all that I’ve heard. My friends are in love with American girls; I’ve seen it in stages all over the world. Her sweet eyes, your temptations don’t deny her frustrations. Just spend your life with those American girls.” He sees that his friends are all getting married as he continues his dating process. In terms of our theme this week, he is looking at past dating situations in his life, and no doubt learning something about himself.
Before him, we heard from a man who calls himself Skrillex who is really Sonny John Moore, and with him is Thomas Wesley Pentz better known as Diplo. They got together in Los Angeles a couple of years ago and formed the duo Jack U. The song is from their dance album “Skrillex and Diplo present Jack U” and their song “Where are U Now” from 2015. That song they sing with the help of Justin Bieber. The song has quite a video, but the song is a plea for help from someone who has left; the man gave a lot, but now the other person is gone. “I need you the most,” they sing, “I gave you the key when the door wasn't open, just admit it. See, I gave you faith, turned your doubt into hoping, can’t deny it. Now I’m all alone and my joys turned to moping. Tell me, where are you now that I need you?” So, the other left the person in the song even though he had given so much. It is a tough situation, and fits into our theme this way—we often remember the love past especially when we gave so much to a relationship that wasn’t returned.
Some interesting thoughts there about the lives we live. The title of MATT this morning is “Past Love Relationships”, a thought generated by our lead song from Taylor Swift and her song “I knew It, I Knew You.” Our second hour of music and message will explore that theme with two triple plays to begin with. A thought to close out this segment from one of my favorite authors, Mr. Will Rogers: “People talk peace, but men give their life’s work to war. It won’t stop until there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war.” Great words, and if you and I could truly be interested in peace, this world wouldn’t be hurting so much. I’m Fr. Mike for “Message at the Top” on Mix 103. Don’t even think about touching that dial!
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 7
This is “Message at the Top” on today’s best music Mix 103. I am Fr. Mike, ready to lead you through the second hour of our show this morning, giving you songs during this half-hour about topics ranging from what commitment means to real communication, among other topics. Our task, as always, is to play music that you will enjoy, and to study that music in such a way that its message can help make your world—and mine—be better. We are pursuing a theme that is discovering what the songs of our show say about past love relationships.
Let’s begin our second hour with our number 7 song on our countdown. It is another strong song of commitment. “For just the chance to win your heart, you could set the bar beyond the stars. I’ll do anything, anything you ask me to. Say you want the moon—watch me learn to fly, ain’t no mountain you could point to I wouldn’t climb. It’s crazy, but it’s true. There’s nothing I won’t do. I’d risk it all for you.” The person in the song is coming to that conclusion of a strong commitment to another, something that obviously began in the past, and progressed to the present. Number 7 in our countdown this weekend, from his album “The Romantic,” his song of complete commitment, “Risk It All”, Bruno Mars or his real name Peter Gene Hernandez for the first time in our top 10 this morning on MATT.
(triple) 7 RISK IT ALL / Bruno Mars
YOU AND ME / Lifehouse
ALWAYS ON YOUR SIDE / Sheryl Crow and Sting
Part 8
Sheryl Crow singing with Gordon Matthew Sumner better known as Sting, a song from Sheryl Crow’s album “Wildflower,” and their song “Always on Your Side” from 2006 on MATT. I think it is a beautiful song: “Well, they say that love is in the air,” they sing, “but never is it clear, how to pull it close and make it stay. Butterflies are free to fly, and so they fly away, and I’m left to carry on and wonder why. Even through it all, I’m always on your side. But is there some place far away, some place where all is clear, easy to start over with the ones you hold so dear, or are we left to wonder, all alone, eternally, but is this how it’s really meant to be. No it isn’t how it’s really meant to be.” The person in the relationship is wondering why it didn’t work out, and at the same time saying that the love is still present in one way or another. The person in the song is remembering a past love, our theme today, and because of it and the breakup / is having a difficult time with the present.
Before them, also from 2005, a very popular song back then from their album named after them, Lifehouse, “You and Me”. The song is a former numnber 1 song, and it begins this way: “What day is it, and in what month. This clock never seemed so alive—I can’t keep up and I can’t back down. I’ve been losing so much time cause it’s you and me and all other people. Nothing to do, nothing to lose, and it’s you and me and all other people and I don’t know why I can’t keep my eyes off of you.” The person in the song is totally in love, and nothing else seems to matter—there’s just you and me, the person in the song sings, and then the rest of reality. Romantic love works that way—when you are involved in it, and it is real, nothing else seems to matter. They were remembering a past love, our theme today, that was still real in their lives.
Another triple play is in front of us right now, and we will begin it with the song at number 6 this week. It is a song about love overcoming loneliness. “How did you know I was hoping for a sign,” he sings, “My heart was so close to closing time. Somethin’ ‘bout you hit me like a freight train to the chest the day we met. My loneliness left the room the second that you walked in, somethin’ like a fever dream. Haven’t slept in weeks, I think I’m seeing things like our shadows dancing us out of our clothes. I’ll be damned if you love me, damned if you don’t. Maybe it’s fate, maybe it’s late. Told you I ain’t no liar, watching you leave’s haunting my dreams.” In terms of our theme, it was in a past love relationship that the present love relationship began, but it seems that the relationship just may end soon. This is the song at number 6 on our countdown, from his album “Wildchild”, Alex Warren on MATT.
(triple) 6 FEVER DREAM / Alex Warren
STAY WITH YOU / Goo Goo Dolls
WALK AWAY / Kelly Clarkson
Part 9
From her grammy award winning album “Breakaway,” Kelly Clarkson, “Walk Away ”from 2006 on MATT. It is a song about direct communication. The person in the song is telling her boyfriend that he has to make a decision concerning loving her or not. “You need to know this situation’s getting old,” she sings, “and now the more you talk, the less I can say. I’m looking for attention, not another question. Should you stay or should you go? Well, if you don’t have the answer, why you still standin’ here? Hey, just walk away.” As I say, it is a song of direct talk to a person who says that he still is in love with her, but isn’t showing it at all. So, she says exactly what she should say—“Let’s get the show on the road today.” As we consider the theme of the remembering past loves, we remember how important communication is to any love relationship.
Before her, we heard from the Goo Goo Dolls, and their song “Stay With You” from 2006 again. They begin their song, “These streets turn me inside out. 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.” So a song of commitment to another, but as with many of the commitment songs in the top 10, you really don’t know how the other feels. From the person in the song’s point of view, the past love relationship was extremely important to him; hopefully the potential partner felt the same way.
Our subject this morning is that thought of remembering past love situations. The thought came from Taylor Swift and her number 5 song “I Knew It, I Knew You.” We will have some more thoughts along that line after this break. Let me take you to that break with this thought from author Patricia Fehr: "Judge each day not by the harvest, but by the seeds you plant." And my comment—if we can do that, we will see that our love interests are real. My name is Fr. Mike, this show is MATT, this radio station is Mix 103.3, and we’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 10
We welcome you back to the only show of its kind in this area and maybe the whole world, because it gives you the music and meanings of the top 10 of today and yesterday. We call it MATT. My name is Fr. Mike, and we are studying all of our songs today from the point of view offered us by Taylor Swift and her song “I Knew It, I Knew You.” The theme that we are using throughout the show is the thought of looking at past love relationships.
And let’s go to a birthday wish this morning. Dan Reynolds is the lead vocalist and founding member of the band Imagine Dragons. He was born in Las Vegas and will be 39 years old this Tuesday. Imagine Dragons have produced music with a lot of meaning over the couple years they have been in existence. This first song from them is a song involving thinking outside the box and trying to do good. “I was born to run,” they sing, “I was born for this. Whip, run me like a racehorse, pull me like a ripcord. Break me down and build me up, I wanna be the slip, word upon your lip, letter that you rip, break me down and build me up. Whatever it takes, ‘cause I love the adrenaline in my veins. I do whatever it takes, ‘cause I love how it feels when I break the chains. Whatever it takes. Always had a fear of being typical.” The person in the song will do whatever it takes to be different but accomplish something great. Tying it into our theme today, we should be able to think of all of our past relationships as efforts to accomplish something good. Good song. This is the band Imagine Dragons in double play here both from their album “Evolve,” their song from 2017 “Whatever It Takes” on MATT.
(triple) WHATEVER IT TAKES/ Imagine Dragons
BELIEVER / Imagine Dragons
4 DRACULA / Tame Impala
Part 11 -
That is what is called a musical project called Tame Impala. It is the creation of Australian instrumentalist Kevin Parker and he is accompanied by South Korean singer Jennie. It is from the album “Deadbeat” and the song “Dracula”, number 4 this week on MATT. According to the experts, the song is wanting a love connection while simultaneously facing vulnerability, portraying a person who feels safest in the shadows and most uncomfortable in the daylight. The lyrics are these: comparing himself to a vampire, “The morning light is turning blue, the feeling is bizarre,” they begin their song. “The night is almost over, I still don’t know where you are. The shadows, they keep me like a movie star, daylight makes me feel like Dracula. In the end, I hope it’s you and me in the darkness, I would never leave. Run from the sunlight, Dracula.” It brings up the thought of hoping for true love midst all the problems and situations that come into our lives, and that is a problem that existed for past love relationships, our theme today, as well as the present ones.
Before them, we heard the second song dedicated to Imagine Dragons from their album “Evolve” again and their 10+ song “Believer” from 2017. It is a statement that the pains of life have determined some things in peoples’ lives. “I was broken from a young age,” they sing, “Taking my sulking to the masses, writing my poems for the few. They looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me singing from heartache from the pain, take my message from the veins, speaking my lesson from the brain, seeing the beauty through the pain. You made me a believer; pain, you break me down, you build me up. Let the bullets fly, oh let them rain. My life, my love, my drive, it came from pain. You made me a believer.” Interesting thought—our lives come from pain. The person in the song realizes what pain has done to him/her, and one would assume is willing to address it as a believer. He/she is looking at past love relationships, our theme today, and learning from them.
From 2017, let’s advance 9 years and talk about the top three songs right now, and we begin them with number 3 which is a song of desire for the girlfriend of someone else. “You leave me filled with regret,” the artist sings, “at the end of the night. I always find myself wondering why. Do you got plans for life? ‘Cause I don’t wanna just romance tonight. I wanna see you in another light—with rhythm, there is rhyme. With you, there always can be I. I don’t wanna talk down on your lover, I don’t wanna be a homewrecker. I just know I can be better, I don’t wanna be a broken record. We lay and contemplate—just one more round of love before you go home to another one.” The love that he wants just may come to be, as the video shows, but before it happens, there will have to be some compromise to work things out, not to mention that he has to make a decision of which one to pursue in a relationship. It is a past love relationship he is working on, our theme today, and he just may have to give it up. This is Shane Michael Boose better known as Sombr and his song “Homewrecker”, number 3 on MATT.
(double) 3 HOMEWRECKER / Sombr
2 SO EASY / Olivia Dean
Part 12
At number 2 this week, London born Olivia Dean from her album “The Art of Loving,” and her song “So Easy” on MATT. It is a song of the desire for love of one particular person. “I could be the twist, the one to make you stop,” she begins the song, “The icing on the cake, the cherry on the top. It’s heaven in my heart, and we could find you some space. I could be the world to you, the missing piece, that extra kind of chemistry. Some people make it hard; with me, that isn’t the case ‘cause I make it so easy to fall in love. So, come give me a call, and we’ll fall into us. I’m the perfect mix of Saturday night and the rest of your life. Anyone with a heart would agree: it’s so easy to fall in love with me.” So, a rather straightforward statement to someone looking for love of a particular person. In terms of our theme, one can easily see that past love relationships were never easy for one reason of another.
And back at number 1 for eleven weeks altogether is the song “I Just Might” from his album “The Romantic”, Bruno Mars again. It is a song of wanting another to show her love for him by good dancing. “It would break my heart,” he sings, “if I find out you can’t move. You better show me now ‘cause when I take you to the floor, you gotta get down. Hey, Mr. DJ, play a song for this pretty little lady ‘cause if she dance as good as she look right now, I just might make her my baby.” It is a rather selfish song in the sense that the man is really only thinking of himself, but some general thoughts on dancing might be in order as we think of the song as we have done over the weeks it has been in the top 10. As usual with him—Bruno Mars—the song has quite a good dance video. In terms of our theme this week, one wonders whether we will judge past love relationships by how well they could dance.
A special thanks to the sponsors of our show and Jeff Leiker our producer, and, of course, to all of you for being here. I hope this second Sunday of July is good for you, and that your celebration of summer is a happy one, as we continue to put up with the heat. Thank you for the privilege of your time and ear this Sunday. And thinking about our theme, my prayer for you and me is that all of our love relationships, romantic and otherwise will be good for us in some way. If you want to contact me, please do so right here at KJLS-FM in Hays, KS 67601 or my e-mail address is frmikescully@yahoo.com. My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find meditations on the Gospels, these songs and some great movies and a transcript of the show. You can catch us on the web every Sunday at this time as well, that is 10 am CDT Sundays as we live stream Mix 103.3. Just go to www.hayspost.com and click on Mix 103.3. Before we go, a final thought from a man by the name of Jacopo Sannazaro: “Man is only miserable so far as he thinks himself so.” Now, that is one great thought. And my commentary: if we think we are going to be miserable, we probably will be / unless we do something about it. As you listen to the number 1 song from Bruno Mars again and his song “I Just Might”, may I remind you that you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103 and among the other important thoughts that we have given you, we say as we usually do—hold a good thought. From W.Va through Lawrence, KS, to Hays KS and the world, my name is Fr. Mike Scully. Stay safe; peace to you, and be good.
1 I JUST MIGHT / Bruno Mars
July 5, 2026
Possible Self-Evident Truths
Part 1
Hello, everyone and thank you for joining us this Independence Day weekend 2026—happy birthday, America, 250 years old now, as of yesterday. I hope your weekend has been a good one so far; welcome to “Message at the Top” on today’s best music, Mix 103. I am Fr. Mike, and you have your dial set to Mix 103.3, the number one popular music station of Central Kansas. Our plea to you during our show is that you enjoy the music that we play, but at the same time that you listen to the message, and allow that message to shape our lives for the better.
Let’s do something special today as we celebrate 250 years of independence. The beginning days of that independence were interesting ones, and the written documents that come out of those days are among the most inspiring documents that have ever been written for America. They include the famous Declaration of Independence which so many of us learned by heart at one time in high school or college. Let’s remember it:
On July 4, 1776, meeting in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the Second Continental Congress unanimously approved the Declaration of Independence.
The Document began with the preamble—“The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America—when in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
It is only fitting that we use Katy Perry’s song “Firework” on our Independence weekend show. The song is a 10+ category of meaning song for me, the highest I get and one of the 6 songs of the most meaning since 1980. She is singing about the potential that we all have in life, no matter how bad the circumstances are. It has a great video also that says the same thing. Listen to these words: “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind,” she begins her song, “wanting to start again? Do you know that there’s still a chance for you, ‘cause there’s a spark in you. You just gotta ignite the light, let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July, ‘cause you’re a firework: come on, show ‘em what you’re worth. You’re original, cannot be replaced. It’s always been inside of you, and now it’s time to let it through.”
She is singing that we can be so much more than we are now, and we shouldn’t be discouraged with who we are. In fact, she sings, “maybe you’re the reason why all the doors are closed: so, you could open one that leads you to the perfect road.” Her point is: discover your potential, and don’t let the problems keep you away from everything you can be.
Put in terms of the Declaration, discover the possible self-evident truths for everyone and put them into effect in your lives. We’ll talk about that today. To start us off, this is Ms. Katherine Elizabeth Hudson, that is Katy Perry, from her album “Teenage Dream”, and her song from 2010, “Firework” on MATT.
(double) FIREWORK / Katy Perry
FLY LIKE AN EAGLE / Seal
Part 2
Speaking of one of the most iconic symbols of freedom and strength in the United States, our national bird, a song that MATT made the number 5 song of meaning of the year 1996, the artist 63 year old Seal Henry Samuel, better known simply as Seal, and his song “Fly Like An Eagle” from the movie “Space Jam” on MATT. “I wanna fly like an eagle;” he sings, “let their spirit carry me. I wanna feed the babies who can’t get enough to eat. I want to shoe the children: no shoes on their feet. I want to house the people, living in the streets.” He calls the spirit of the eagle “a solution” to the problems he addresses. / What a great thought for us in America. The answer to the world’s problems is to accept into our lives a real desire to strengthen and protect everyone. You talk about positive songs. One of the self-evident truths for our world should be the moving desire we all should have to be better people.
Let’s move into our top 10 right now. The song is a philosophical thought about dating. Harry Styles said that the song gave him the opportunity to look at his own dating patterns. “Right at home with perfect timing,” he begins his song, “A face that knows her perfect lighting ‘cause time will show that you should try it, those American girls you spend your life with. I’ve known you for ages, it’s all that I’ve heard. My friends are in love with American girls; I’ve seen it in stages all over the world. Her sweet eyes, your temptations don’t deny her frustrations. Just spend your life with those American girls.” He sees that his friends are all getting married as he continues his dating process. In terms of our theme this week, it is a self-evident truth that we are free in this country, and therefore free to choose to date and who to date. This is Harry Styles from his album “Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally,” his song “American Girls” number 10 this morning on MATT.
(triple) 10 AMERICAN GIRLS / Harry Styles
BEAUTIFUL MISTAKES / Maroon 5 f/ Megan Thee Stallion sat
GET LUCKY / Daft Punk
Part 3
The song from their award winning album “Random Access Memories”, Record of the Year from the Grammys of 2013, a duo from France called Daft Punk, performing with American singer/songwriters Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers and their song “Get Lucky” on MATT. The song is a love song with as poetic a beginning of a song that you are ever going to hear. “Like the legend of the phoenix,” they sing, “all ends with beginnings. What keeps the planet spinning, the force of love beginning. We’ve come too far to give up who we are. So let’s raise the bar and our cups to the stars. She’s up all night ‘til the sun, I’m up all night to get lucky.” And that last line is sung a number of times. I don’t think that one can speak about “getting lucky” in love because it takes some hard work, and as we think of self-evident truths this morning, our theme today, one of them is the fact that we can fall in love.
Before them, we heard from Maroon 5’s song concerning a mistake, a song that is on my website www.frmikescully.com this week on Saturday. They are singing, along with Megan Pete better known as Megan Thee Stallion and their song “Beautiful Mistakes” number 5 of all the songs of 2021 from Maroon 5’s album “Jordi”. The mistake that they sing about is living in the past and remembering a relationship that the man wants back again. “It’s beautiful, it’s bittersweet. You’re like a broken home to me, I take a shot of memories and black out like an empty street. I fill my days with the way you walk, and fill my nights with broken dreams. I make up lies inside my head like one day you’ll come back to me. Now I’m not holding on. I’m just depressed that you’re gone. Beautiful mistakes, I wouldn’t take them back. I’m in love with the past.” And there’s the mistake, I believe. One of the self-evident truths in our lives is that we can learn from mistakes, but we have to live in the present.
We are celebrating a theme that makes us remember the weekend we are celebrating, namely the fact that there are self-evident truths in our lives. During our next segment, we will continue to explore our songs with that thought. We will listen to current top 10 songs from numbers 9, 8 and 7 in our countdown along with Howie Day and John Mayer. May I lead you to break with a sarcastic thought from George Bernard Shaw: “I don't know if there are men on the moon, but if there are, they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.” I’d say he had run into some people that he didn’t agree with when he wrote that, and that is not a self-evident truth. Well, then again, maybe it is. “Message at the Top” will continue right after these important messages. I’m Fr. Mike inviting you to keep your radio dial set at Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 4
It is so good to have you back with us. Thank you for joining us and we welcome you back to the top 10 songs of our area as of the week ending today, July 5, 2026, the close of the week dedicated to the fact that our country is 250 years old. I hope your celebration of the 4th was and is a good one. I am Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10 show of its kind, maybe in the world, “Message at the Top.” During this segment, we have top 10 music from the present and the past and they are ingeniously fitting into a theme that we have named “What are some self-evident truths in our lives.” It comes from this weekend that we are celebrating.
As promised, one of our extra artists on our show today is Howie Day, and for his song we go back to 2005. “Even the best fall down sometimes,” he sings, “Even the wrong words seem to rhyme; out of the doubt that fills my mind, I somehow find / you and I collide. I’ve found I’m scared to know I’m always on your mind.” He is singing that even though things don’t always seem to work out, somehow they do for people who are in love—they collide into life and love. I love happy endings, and it is a happy ending. And as we think of self-evident truths today, one of them is that we can have happy endings in our lives. This is Howie Day from his album “Stop All The World Now,” and his song “Collide” on MATT.
(double) COLLIDE / Howie Day
9 RISK IT ALL / Bruno Mars
Part 5
Number 9 in our countdown this Independence Day weekend, from his album “The Romantic,” his song of true commitment, “Risk It All”, Bruno Mars or his real name Peter Gene Hernandez for the first time in our top 10 this morning on MATT. In the American Music Awards, Bruno Mars was named the best R&B male artist, and the album was named best R&B album. It is a strong song of commitment. “For just the chance to win your heart, you could set the bar beyond the stars. I’ll do anything, anything you ask me to. Say you want the moon—watch me learn to fly, ain’t no mountain you could point to I wouldn’t climb. It’s crazy, but it’s true. There’s nothing I won’t do. I’d risk it all for you.” Being able to bind ourselves to do something is one of those self-evident truths that we should be aware of and be thankful for.
Continuing our countdown, we go to number 8 and a song from the soundtrack of the best animated feature of this year according to the Academy Awards, “K Pop Demon Hunters” the name of it. It is the theme of the Netflix film that follows them—namely Huntr/X—who lead double lives facing off against a rival boys band, the Saja boys whose members are secretly demons. The words recall that story. “We’re going up, it’s our moment. You know together we’re glowin, gonna be golden. I’m done hidin’ now, I’m shinin’ like I’m born to be, oh, our time, no fears, no lies, that’s who we’re born to be.” In terms of our theme this week, one of the self-evident truths in our country is the ability to follow our dreams and choose the direction of our lives. This is the song of the year according to the American Music Awards singing about doing what is right, from three Korean young ladies named Huntr/X, former number 1, “Golden”, number 8 on MATT.
(triple) 8 GOLDEN / Huntr/X
DREAMING WITH A BROKEN HEART / John Mayer
7 FEVER DREAM / Alex Warren
Part 6
Closing off a triple play, the song at number 7, from his album “Wildchild”, Alex Warren on MATT and a song which refers to his wife according to him. It is a song about love overcoming loneliness. “How did you know I was hoping for a sign,” he sings, “My heart was so close to closing time. Somethin’ ‘bout you hit me like a freight train to the chest the day we met. My loneliness left the room the second that you walked in, somethin’ like a fever dream. Haven’t slept in weeks, I think I’m seeing things like our shadows dancing us out of our clothes. I’ll be damned if you love me, damned if you don’t. Maybe it’s fate, maybe it’s late. Told you I ain’t no liar, watching you leave’s haunting my dreams.” In terms of our theme, it is a self-evident truth that we have the ability to do many things to overcome loneliness, and the ability to choose one.
Before him, we heard John Clayton Mayer or simply John Mayer from his album “Continuum” from 2006, his song “Dreaming with a Broken Heart”. Over the years he has produced a number of top 10 songs and most of them went to number 1. Here, he sings about a breakup. It contains a statement of strong pain. He sings “When you’re dreaming with a broken heart, the waking up is the hardest part.” Doesn’t that describe pain pretty well? He continues, “You roll outta bed and down on your knees, and for the moment you can hardly breathe, wondering was she really here. Is she standing in my room? No, she’s not, ‘cause she’s gone, gone, gone.” And then an interesting question: “Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?” He has tried to put the relationship back together, but it doesn’t work. / Breakups are always so painful, and sung about quite often because unfortunately, they are part of our reality, and unfortunately, part of the reality of young life, and therefore maybe the first feeling of deep mental pain in a person’s life. But the self-evident truth, our theme today: we can make difficult endings a little less difficult if we work at it.
Ah, isn’t it interesting what these songs of popular music lead us to. “Discovering self-evident truths” is our theme today, that thought coming from the Declaration of Independence of 1776. Our next set of music and message will explore that theme with musicians that will come in this order of appearance: Sombr, James Arthur, Katy Perry again, Taylor Swift, Colbie Caillat and Tame Impala. Let me take you to break with a quote from author James Robinson: “Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.” Now, that is one true statement, and what we need is more people who are willing to do some thinking that will bring about real change. I’m Fr. Mike, listen to these words of wisdom, and then I hope you come back here for more… wisdom.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 7
This is “Message at the Top” on today’s best music Mix 103. Thank you for joining us today, and welcome to our second hour of music and message. I am Fr. Mike, and our show gives you the top 10 songs of our area, as well as some great top 10 songs of the past. 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. We are closing off the Independence Day weekend and trying to discover some self-evident truths that will improve our lives.
Our second hour this Independence Day weekend begins with our number 6 song on our countdown and a song about the fact that a couple have given themselves completely to each other physically, and now one of them just wants to be friends, and that, the artist concludes, is a contradiction. He sings, “How can we go back to being friends when we just shared a bed? How can you look at me and pretend I’m someone you’ve never met?” It seems as though the lady in the relationship wants to have a breakup or at least a temporary time apart, but the two have already made it clear that they are committed to each other. As I have mentioned, it is unfortunately a common enough experience. In terms of our theme, I believe that one of the evils of society is giving in to too much physical involvement because the physical involvement tends to dominate rather than thinking about what love truly is. And one of the self-evident truths in our country is a free will which will allow us to do what we want to do, our theme today. This is Shane Michael Boose or Sombr who celebrates a birthday today. He is only 21 years old and this is the best rock/alternative song of the year according to the American Music Awards, and the first song in the top 10 this morning for Sombr from his album “I Barely Know Her” and his song “Back to Friends” at number 6 on MATT.
(triple) 6 BACK TO FRIENDS / Sombr
SAY YOU WON’T LET GO / James Arthur
E.T. / Katy Perry
Part 8
Katy Perry from her album “Teenage Dream” and her song, “E.T”, from the year 2011 on MATT. It is a song of wanting to be loved. “You're so hypnotizing,” the lady in the relationship sings, “Could you be the devil? Could you be an angel? Your touch magnetizing, feels like I am floating, leaves my body glowing. They say, be afraid, you're not like the others, futuristic lover, different DNA. They don't understand you. You're from a whole 'nother world, a different dimension; you open my eyes and I'm ready to go, lead me into the light. Kiss me, infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, wanna be a victim, ready for abduction. Boy, you're an alien, your touch so foreign. It's supernatural, extraterrestrial.” One of the self-evident truths in our lives, our theme today, is the fact that we can have romantic love if we want it and work it.
Before her, we heard the song featured on my website tomorrow from James Arthur, a British singer/ songwriter and his soft love song from his album “Back from the Edge”, “Say You Won’t Let Go”, number 3 of our songs of meaning of 2017. “I knew I loved you,” the man in the relationship sings, “But you’d never know ‘cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go. I knew I needed you but I never showed. But I wanna stay with you until we’re grey and old. Just say you won’t let go. So I wrote this song for you. Now everybody knows that it’s just you and me. Just say you won’t let go.” So a song of very strong commitment promising a life forever. The thought of that love song is just that—if the love is real, it will be forever. In terms of our theme today, one of the self-evident truths that we should have is that if we say we will love, we will mean it.
Closing off this half-hour is yet another triple play beginning with number 5 on our countdown. It is the story line of the movie “Toy Story 5”, and in particular the journey of the character Jessie, depicting the concepts of reunion and memory, and the emotions that go with it. Taylor Swift wrote it after she had watched the movie. “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer,” she begins her song, “parachutes for the free fall of being younger. I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps running wild. It’s been a long time; life has ways of leaving those days behind. But seeing you tonight, I remembered I loved you, came back when it mattered. I saw you, standing there in the light of the window, wearing that same smile. Man, it’s been a while, but I knew it, I knew you.” In terms of our theme, one of the self-evident truths of our society is that we can choose to love someone and who to love. This is our theme next week, Taylor Swift’s latest song “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the soundtrack of the movie “Toy Story 5”, number 5 on MATT.
(triple) 5 I KNEW IT, I KNEW YOU / Taylor Swift
FALLIN’ FOR YOU / Colbie Caillat
4 DRACULA / Tame Impala
Part 9
That is what is called a musical project called Tame Impala. It is the creation of Australian instrumentalist Kevin Parker and he is accompanied by South Korean singer Jennie. It is from the album “Deadbeat” and the song “Dracula”, number 4 this week on MATT. According to the experts, the song is wanting a love connection while simultaneously facing vulnerability, portraying a person who feels safest in the shadows and most uncomfortable in the daylight. The lyrics are these: comparing himself to a vampire, “The morning light is turning blue, the feeling is bizarre,” they begin their song. “The night is almost over, I still don’t know where you are. The shadows, they keep me like a movie star, daylight makes me feel like Dracula. In the end, I hope it’s you and me in the darkness, I would never leave. Run from the sunlight, Dracula.” It brings up the thought of hoping for true love midst all the problems and situations that come into our lives, and that is a self-evident truth for a free country, our theme today.
Before them, MATT presented Ms. Colbie Caillat from her album “Breakthrough,” and her song “Fallin’ for You” from the year 2009. She sings: "I don’t know, but I think I may be fallin' for you, dropping so quickly. Maybe I should keep this to myself waiting till I know you better. I am trying not to tell you, but I want to. I’m scared of what you’ll say, so I’m hiding what I’m feeling, but I’m tired of holding this inside my head. I’ve been spending all my time just thinking about you. I don’t know what to do. I think I’m fallin' for you. I’ve been waiting all my life, and now I’ve found you. Oh, I just can’t take it. My heart is racing, the emotions keep spinning out.” The fact is that controlling human emotions is not an easy task. In terms of our theme, one of the self-evident truths in our lives is that we can control emotions if we want to.
We are studying the top songs of this week ending today, the first Sunday of July, 2026, and celebrating the fact that our country is 250 years old. We have our last segment to go yet, when we’ll hear the top 3 right now as well as some songs remembering some birthdays. The event that has supplied our theme of discovering some self-evident truths came from this weekend celebration, our nation’s 250th birthday. We close this segment with a quote from one of the inspirers of our nation’s original thinking, a man by the name of Francois de la Rochefoucauld, and he had this excellent statement about virtue. “Perfect virtue is to do unwitnessed / that which we should be capable of doing in front of all the world.” Isn’t that a great statement. I’m Fr. Mike, and you’re listening to “Message at the Top” on Mix 103.
Every song has a message, and our belief on this show is that the message of the song will always help us in one way or another if we really think about it. Welcome back for our final segment of the top 10 popular songs of our area. I’m your host, Fr. Mike on “Message at the Top” on Mix 103.3. Thank you for joining us again this first Sunday of the summer month of July—the summer has begun hot indeed. I hope your morning has gone well for you, and I hope we have added to it just a little bit. Our theme today has come from the our nation’s Declaration of Independence, namely that there are some self-evident truths like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and discovering what they are.
As promised, we have the top 3 songs on our show today, but before we get to them, let’s celebrate some birthdays first. Post Malone’s real name is Austin Richard Post and his birthday was July 4, Independence Day, yesterday, when he was 31 years old. We’ll celebrate his birthday with his song “Chemical.” It is a song about hanging on when the man in the relationship shouldn’t, and he compares it to an addictive drug. “Oxytocin making it all okay,” he sings. “When I come back down, it doesn’t feel the same. Now I’m sitting around waiting for the world to end all day ‘cause I couldn’t leave you if I tried. You break me then I break my rules. It’s messed up, I know, but I’m still outside of the party, smoking in the car with you. Tell you that I’m sorry, tell me what I gotta do ‘cause I can’t let go. It’s chemical.” I cleaned up the words a little. As we think with the theme of some possible self-evident truths, certainly the song brings up one: before we can truly live, we have to know the dangers of addictive drugs, whether for real or in the form of something else like people as in the song. This is the song “Chemical” from his album “Austin” from the year 2023. Happy birthday, Post Malone, on MATT.
(triple) CHEMICAL / Post Malone
THE POWER OF LOVE / Huey Lewis & the News
HERE / Alessia Cara
Part 11
Happy birthday to her, namely Alessia Caracciola, better known as Alessia Cara, from Brampton, Ontario, Canada from her album “Know-It-All” and her song “Here”, from 2014 on MATT. She will be 30 years old on Saturday. The song is a song of pain, and almost like the young person it is singing about / is in a state of depression. “I'm sorry if I seem uninterested,” she sings, “or I'm not listenin' or I'm indifferent. Truly, I ain't got no business here. But since my friends are here, just came to kick it but really I would rather be at home all by myself not in this room with people who don't even care about my well-being. I don't dance, don't ask, I don't need a boyfriend. So you can go back, please enjoy your party. So tell my friends that I'll be over here. I ask myself what am I doing here? And I can't wait till we can break up outta here.” Tough situation for the young lady, and she needs some help it sounds like. As we consider our theme today, one of our self-evident truths is that there will be pain in life, but we have the wherewithal to withstand it.
Before her, we wished happy birthday to Hugh Anthony Cregg III better known as Huey Lewis who is 76 years old today, and we played his and his group’s song “The Power of Love.” It is a song that needs no explanation because just about everyone in America recognizes it. The song came from 1985, from the movie Back to the Future I, a song all about love and power, and in terms of our theme, a self-evident truth is that we all can show true love of another which will give us the power to be the person we should be. Great song.
Which brings us to our top 3 songs of our area right now, and we begin them with number 3 which is a song of desire for the girlfriend of someone else. The American Music Awards said that he was the Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and his album, namely “I Barely Know Her” was best rock/alternative album of the year. “You leave me filled with regret,” he sings, “at the end of the night. I always find myself wondering why. Do you got plans for life? ‘Cause I don’t wanna just romance tonight. I wanna see you in another light—with rhythm, there is rhyme. With you, there always can be I. I don’t wanna talk down on your lover, I don’t wanna be a homewrecker. I just know I can be better, I don’t wanna be a broken record. We lay and contemplate—just one more round of love before you go home to another one.” The love that he wants just may come to be, as the video shows, but before it happens, there will have to be some compromise to work things out, not to mention that he has to make a decision of which one to pursue in a relationship. And it is a self-evident truth in our free land, our theme today, that we can make such a decision. As I mentioned, it is his birthday today; this is 21 year old Sombr and his song “Homewrecker”, number 3 on MATT.
(double) 3 HOMEWRECKER / Sombr
2 SO EASY / Olivia Dean
Part 12
Falling back to number 2 after 3 weeks at number 1, London born Olivia Dean, from her album “The Art of Loving,” and her song “So Easy” on MATT. It is a song of the desire for love of one particular person. “I could be the twist, the one to make you stop,” she begins the song, “The icing on the cake, the cherry on the top. It’s heaven in my heart, and we could find you some space. I could be the world to you, the missing piece, that extra kind of chemistry. Some people make it hard; with me, that isn’t the case ‘cause I make it so easy to fall in love. So, come give me a call, and we’ll fall into us. I’m the perfect mix of Saturday night and the rest of your life. Anyone with a heart would agree: it’s so easy to fall in love with me.” So, a rather straightforward statement to someone looking for love of a particular person. In terms of our theme, as we have mentioned a couple times, she is exercising her self-evident truth, our theme today, of looking for love.
And back at number 1 for ten weeks altogether is the song “I Just Might” from his album “The Romantic”, Bruno Mars again. It is a song of wanting another to show her love for him by good dancing. “It would break my heart,” he sings, “if I find out you can’t move. You better show me now ‘cause when I take you to the floor, you gotta get down. Hey, Mr. DJ, play a song for this pretty little lady ‘cause if she dance as good as she look right now, I just might make her my baby.” It is a rather selfish song in the sense that the man is really only thinking of himself, but some general thoughts on dancing might be in order as we think of the song as we have done over the weeks it has been number 1. As usual with him—Bruno Mars—the song has quite a good dance video. In terms of our theme this week, in a free land, it is clear that we can exercise our self-evident truth of choosing a partner and showing it perhaps by dancing.
Today we have used the idea of the Declaration of Independence, namely that there are self-evident truths in our world. We looked at it as a theme for our Independence Day weekend. My prayer for you and for me is that everyone of us will use the truths that are part of our free world / well. We would then have a different world, I believe. If you would like to contact me, my e-mail address is: frmikescully@yahoo.com or the address at the radio station: KJLS-FM, Hays, America, KS 67601. My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find the transcript of our show and some meditations on the Gospels, these songs and some great movies. If you want to catch us on the web, we are part of the live stream of Mix 103.3—go to www.hayspost.com and click on Mix 103.3 every Sunday morning at 10 central daylight time. Thank you for your time today. My thanks to Jeff Leiker the producer of our show, and to our sponsors, especially Holy Family Elementary School in Hays, Hays Car and Truck Alignment, Auto World in Hays and Thomas More Prep-Marian Junior and Senior High School in Hays. My closing thought for you comes from Aldous Huxley: “To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.” Think about that. Our number one song is “I Just Might” again from Bruno Mars and as we lead into it, may I remind you that you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103 and among other things, we remind you to hold a good thought. From the beauty of Vienna West Virginia through downtown Lawrence, KS through the technology of Mix 103 in Hays, my name is Fr. Mike Scully. Stay safe, peace to you, and be good!
1 I JUST MIGHT / Bruno Mars
June 28, 2026
Slowing Down
Part 1
Good morning, Central Kansas and around the world. Thank you for joining us this weekend. I hope your Sunday is a good one so far, and that it will be a happy and safe one for you. Welcome to “Message at the Top.” Get set for the top 10 songs of our area right now as determined by our research and the national research of Mediabase 24-7. We’ll add to them some songs of past top 10’s as well, including songs from the 2000’s and even some from the 1990’s and 80’s. I am Fr. Mike, and you have your dial set to Mix 103, the number one popular music station of Central Kansas. Our plea to you during our show is that you enjoy the music that we play, but at the same time listen to the message, and allow that message to shape our lives for the better.
It was Ariana Grande’s birthday last Friday when she was 33 years old, and one of her songs is a great one to study because it talks about the solution to some real life problems. She sings “Some days things just take way too much of my energy. I look up and the whole room’s spinning. You take my cares away. I can so over complicate, people tell me to medicate, feel my blood runnin’, swear the sky’s fallin’. I know that all this stuff’s fabricated. Time goes by and I can’t control my mind, don’t know what else to try, but you tell me every time, just keep breathin’.” He/she is giving her great advice, I think. Just slow down and breathe deeply.
Slowing down, I believe, is absolutely necessary in this fast-paced world because it does indeed take all of our energy to live so fast. You can look at that from the point of view of “doing nothing.” If we define doing nothing as laziness, we are talking about as our dictionary says, being unwilling to work, unwilling to do any work or make an effort. But that is not exactly the same thing as “doing nothing” which I would define as refraining from activity for some reason.
I think a case can be made in life for doing nothing. There are times in our lives after some intense activity, for example, when we have to literally sit back and do nothing, just to relax, and allow the brain and muscles to rest just a little. In the spiritual life, as well, one of the ways to commune with a Higher Being that we have chosen to believe in is to do nothing except be in the presence of such a Higher Being how ever we define such a Higher Being. Such an action requires us to do nothing. One of the traits of a good marriage for example is that the husband and wife do nothing but remain and enjoy each other’s presence. One of the thoughts about friendship is the same—you are good friends with someone if you just do nothing but “hang out” with each other. In my definition, then, “doing nothing” is not the same as laziness which has a negative connotation.
The person in Ariana Grande’s song who tells her to just slow down, breathe, and look at things from a relaxed point of view is talking about doing nothing from a positive point of view. It is as I say an answer to the problems in our world, that is, to just let them happen, and deal with them slowly.
In fact, the song can give us our theme today. How about calling our show “Slowing Down.” We will study our song situations with that in mind. Here slowing down will help us study our fast-paced world, and help us put things in proper perspective. Great song here and theme-setter from her album “Sweetener,” and her song, from 2018, “Breathin’” –happy birthday, Ariana Grande, on MATT.
(double) BREATHIN’ / Ariana Grande
SECRETS / OneRepublic
Part 2
Celebrating a birthday also last Friday was Ryan Teddar when he was 47 years old—he is the front man and co-founder of the band OneRepublic. That last song “Secrets” was from them. It was from their album “Waking Up” and is the answer that the person in the song gives to someone whom he has not told enough to in the past. “I’ve been on the brink,” the man in the relationship sings, “so, tell me what you want to hear; I’m sick of all the insincere, so I’m gonna give all my secrets away this time. Don’t need another perfect line, don’t care if critics never jump in line, I’m gonna give all my secrets away.” What has happened in the past leads the person in the song to be sincere, and it is a virtue that we should always try to make part of our lives. And if we learn to slow down a little in life, our theme today, we may find more time to learn that virtue.
The final birthday we are celebrating today is Ms. Tate McRae who will be 23 on Wednesday of this week. The song we are using from her to celebrate her birthday, according to her, is a song celebrating female confidence. “He says, ‘Are you serious,’” she begins her song speaking of the boyfriend in the relationship, “I’ve tried, but I can’t figure out; I’ve been next to you all night and still don’t know what you’re about.” But she says, “I would want myself. Please believe me. I’ll put you through hell just to know me, so sure of yourself, don’t get greedy—that stuff won’t end well.” I changed the words a little. She said of the song that it is about confidence and about female empowerment. And exactly what should be said to someone who wants to control a situation when he/she shouldn’t. In terms of our theme, when someone takes the time and slows down a little, he/she would probably figure out that they should move on after such behavior. From the year 2o24, and a song from her album “Think Later,” her song, “Greedy”—happy birthday, Tate McRae on MATT.
(triple) GREEDY / Tate McRae
EX’S AND OH’S / Elle King
10 I KNEW IT, I KNEW YOU / Taylor Swift
Part 3
Quite popular in our world today, and into our countdown this week is Taylor Swift’s latest song “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the soundtrack of the movie “Toy Story 5.” It is the story line of the movie, and in particular the journey of the character Jessie, and depicts the concepts of reunion, memory, and the emotions that go with it. Taylor Swift wrote it after she had watched the movie. “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer,” she begins her song, “parachutes for the free fall of being younger. I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps running wild. It’s been a long time; life has ways of leaving those days behind. But seeing you tonight, I remembered I loved you, came back when it mattered. I saw you, standing there in the light of the window, wearing that same smile. Man, it’s been a while , but I knew it, I knew you.” In terms of our theme, the lady in the song took the time to slow down and look at her life, and realized how she loved others.
Before her, we heard from Elle King’s album “Love Stuff,” and her song “Ex’s and Oh’s”, and a song about self-confidence, and a song on my website www.frmikescully.com on Friday. Self-confidence is necessary, but being over-confident can have the opposite effect, especially if you speak about it to others. Such is the case here. The lady in the song sings of strong confidence in her own abilities to have lovers. “Well, I had me a boy, turned him into a man,” she sings. “I showed him all the things that he didn't understand. And then I let him go. Now, there's one in California who's been cursing my name ‘cause I found me a better lover in the UK, until I made my getaway. One, two, three, they gonna run back to me 'cause I'm the best baby that they never gotta keep. They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave. Ex's and the oh's, they haunt me like ghosts; they want me to love 'em all. They won't let go.” In terms of our theme this week, if one would take the time to slow down and think about the behavior of someone else with this type of over self-confidence we would no doubt stay away from him/her as a friend.
We are seeking the wisdom of slowing down in life during our show today, that thought having come from birthday person last Friday Ariana Grande and her song “Breathin’.” Here is a thought to close out this portion of our show from Mr. or Mrs. Cynical Anonymous, “Without freedom of speech, we would never know who the idiots are.” Indeed, and there are a bunch of people that probably come to your mind as well as mine. Don’t judge them—just say a prayer for them. You’ve got today’s best music Mix 103.3 on your radio dial, and we implore you to keep it right there.
+++COMMERCIAL BREAK+++
Part 4
It is so good to have you back with us. Thank you for joining us and we welcome you back to the top 10 songs of our area as of the week ending today, the last Sunday of June 2026, the week before our Independence Day week and the second Sunday in this great season of summer—happy birthday, America. I am Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10 show of its kind, “Message at the Top.” During this segment, as usual, we have top 10 music from the present and the past. They are ingeniously fitting into the theme of asking and answering the question “What Are the Advantages of ‘Slowing Down’ in Life.”
And what does our number 9 song this week say about that? Well, it is the first song in the top 10 this week for Peter Gene Hernandez or Bruno Mars. In the American Music Awards, Bruno Mars was named the best R&B male artist, and the album was named best R&B album. It is a strong song of commitment. “For just the chance to win your heart, you could set the bar beyond the stars. I’ll do anything, anything you ask me to. Say you want the moon—watch me learn to fly, ain’t no mountain you could point to I wouldn’t climb. It’s crazy, but it’s true. There’s nothing I won’t do. I’d risk it all for you.” The person who makes such a commitment has taken the time to slow his life down, our theme today, before he made the decision. This is number 9, from his album “The Romantic,” his song of true commitment, “Risk It All”, Bruno Mars on MATT.
(double) 9 RISK IT ALL / Bruno Mars
TRY / Pink
Part 5
Pink, there, that is, Alecia Beth Moore Hart, and her song “Try,” an excellent song of meaning from her album “The Truth About Love” on MATT. It is an excellent song because it illustrates the leadership principle of “Never Stop Trying to do Your Best.” “Ever wonder,” she sings, “about what he’s doing, how it all turned to lies. Sometimes I think that it’s better to never ask why. Where there is desire, there is going to be a flame. Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burned. But just because it hurts don’t mean you’re gonna die. You gotta get up and try.” She is singing of a failed love relationship, but it is a very good principle of living. In terms of our theme, this is one of those principles that would become evident about our lives if we allow ourselves to slow down and do some serious thinking. Good song.
We go to another triple play now, and begin it with a song at number 8 this morning. It is from the soundtrack of the best animated feature of this year according to the Academy Awards, “K Pop Demon Hunters” the name of it. It is the theme of the Netflix film that follows them—namely Huntr/X—who lead double lives facing off against a rival boys band, the Saja boys whose members are secretly demons. The words recall that story. “We’re going up, it’s our moment. You know together we’re glowin, gonna be golden. I’m done hidin’ now, I’m shinin’ like I’m born to be, oh, our time, no fears, no lies, that’s who we’re born to be.” In terms of our theme this week, the right thing to do in life is to slow down at times and think about the direction of your life. This is the song of the year according to the American Music Awards singing about doing what is right, from three Korean young ladies named Huntr/X, former number 1, “Golden”, number 8 on MATT.
(triple) 8 GOLDEN / Huntr/X
WRONG IMPRESSION / Natalie Imbruglia
7 MAN I NEED / Olivia Dean
Part 6
The first song in the top 10 this morning from Olivia Dean, and a song looking for what I have called the virtue which is most needed in any relationship, namely, communication. It comes from her album “The Art of Loving,” and her song “Man I Need”, number 7 this week, former number 1. “Talk to me,” she begins her song, “looks like we’re making up for lost time; need you to spell it out for me. Don’t be shy, just come be the man I need. Tell me you got something to give. I want it. I kinda like when you call me wonderful, whatever the type of talk it is. Come on then, I gotta know you’re meant to be the man I need. Talk to me. I’d like to think you feel the same way, but I can’t tell with you sometimes. So, let’s get on the same page. Stop making me read between the lines.” So, communication,...and, in terms of our theme, something for all of us to slow down and study, namely our communication with others.
Before her, we heard from Natalie Imbruglia and her song “Wrong Impression” from her album “White Lilies Island”. 51 year old Australian singer/songwriter Natalie Imbruglia sings here, “Calling out, haven’t you wondered why I’m always alone when you’re in my dreams. Calling out, haven’t you wondered why you find it hard just looking at me. I want you, but I want you to understand. I leave you. I love you. Didn’t want to leave you with the wrong impression. Didn’t want to leave you with my last confession of love.” But she is leaving him. A little later on she sings, “Haven’t you wondered what we could have been if you’d only let me in.” It’s his fault, and apparently, he doesn’t know it. That is certainly one of the things that he would have learned if he had slowed down and done a little serious thinking, our theme this morning.
Our theme today is that idea of what could happen if we would slow down a little. As always, the songs of our show can take that theme and work with it—with a little bit of help. Songs always seem to say a lot if we are looking for the messages. Up next, we will explore the artistry and meanings of songs by in order of appearance: Gavin DeGraw, the band Nickelback, Alex Warren, Sombr, Taylor Swift again and OneRepublic again—another great line-up. As we head to break, here is a thought from author Rita Mae Brown: “One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.” You bet. I’m Fr. Mike, and this is “Message at the Top” on Mix 103.3. We’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
Part 7
Welcome back. I am Fr. Mike, your host for “Message at the Top” on Mix 103 which is our top 10 show that gives you the songs of today along with their meanings and some great songs from the past with their meanings as well. We are featuring the top 10 songs of our area as we always do, and as always, we are playing other songs from past top 10’s. We play the music, hope you enjoy it, and we advise you to listen to the messages so that our lives may be able to take on a better quality. It’s great to have you with us again as we play the songs that make up the popular music of today and yesterday. We have taken our theme on this second Sunday of summer from Ariana Grande and her song “Breathin’” and our theme is “Slowing Down” as we study the circumstances of the songs.
As promised, let’s begin our second hour with Gavin DeGraw. He is from South Fallsburg, New York and is a 49 year old American musician, singer and songwriter. He begins his song here by singing, “Staring at a maple leaf, leaning on the mother tree, I said to myself we all lost touch.” We have lost touch in his opinion with the natural things—we look at fruit as chocolate covered cherries and we want watermelons that have no seeds. In fact, nothing from the ground is good enough. And so, he begs his chariot, his vehicle, to allow the golden waves of the sun to walk over his face as he rides that chariot into a promised land, the country, where he’ll spend his vacation and give him the freedom he needs. Gavin DeGraw's wish in the song is to keep in touch with nature, and by extension, with what is really important in life. In terms of our theme today, his action is exactly what our theme is all about: he is slowing down and doing some serious thinking in the country. The song is the title song from his album “Chariot,” from 2003, and a song about getting away into the country, Gavin DeGraw on MATT.
(triple) CHARIOT / Gavin DeGraw
GOTTA BE SOMEBODY/ Nickelback
6 FEVER DREAM / Alex Warren
Part 8
Closing off a triple play, the song at number 6, from his album “Wildchild”, Alex Warren on MATT and a song which refers to his wife according to him. It is a song about love overcoming loneliness. “How did you know I was hoping for a sign,” he sings, “My heart was so close to closing time. Somethin’ ‘bout you hit me like a freight train to the chest the day we met. My loneliness left the room the second that you walked in, somethin’ like a fever dream. Haven’t slept in weeks, I think I’m seeing things like our shadows dancing us out of our clothes. I’ll be damned if you love me, damned if you don’t. Maybe it’s fate, maybe it’s late. Told you I ain’t no liar, watching you leave’s haunting my dreams.” In terms of our theme, if one is to overcome loneliness, part of the solution is to slow down and consider why we are lonely.
Before him, we heard from the Canadian band Nickelback and a good song of meaning from the year 2009, “Gotta Be Somebody” from their album “Dark Horse”. “This time I wonder what it feels like to find the one in this life,” they sing, “the one we all dream of, but dreams just aren’t enough, so I’ll be waiting for the real thing, ‘cause nobody wants to be the last one there, ‘cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares, someone to love with my life in their hands—there’s gotta be somebody for me like that ‘cause nobody wants to do it on their own, and everyone wants to know they’re not alone. There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere—there’s gotta be somebody for me out there.” Their song is a statement of fact, and a statement of hope. The person in the song hasn’t found that somebody yet, but they feel strongly that such a person exists, and you get the feeling from the song that they will extend the energy it takes to find that somebody. One of the ways to help a person find a person that will fulfill their dreams is to slow down and do some serious thinking, our theme today.
Let’s go to our top 5 right now and a song about the fact that a couple have given themselves completely to each other physically, and now one of them just wants to be friends, and that, the artist concludes, is a contradiction. He sings, “How can we go back to being friends when we just shared a bed? How can you look at me and pretend I’m someone you’ve never met?” It seems as though the lady in the relationship wants to have a breakup or at least a temporary time apart, but the two have already made it clear that they are committed to each other. As I have mentioned, it is unfortunately a common enough experience. In terms of our theme, I believe that one of the evils of society is giving in to too much physical involvement because the physical involvement tends to dominate rather than thinking about what love truly is. And in order to think about what love truly is, we have to slow down and think, our theme today. This is the best rock/alternative song of the year according to the American Music Awards, and the first song in the top 10 this morning for Sombr, that is Shane Michael Boose from his album “I Barely Know Her” and his song “Back to Friends” on MATT at number 5.
(triple) 5 BACK TO FRIENDS / Sombr
THE FATE OF OPHELIA / Taylor Swift
GOOD LIFE / OneRepublic
Part 9
The number 3 song of meaning of 2011 and a plea to human beings to decide to have a good life. The second time we have heard from them this morning. It comes from OneRepublic’s album “Waking Up”, a 10+ category song of meaning, and their song “Good Life”. The song begins in London, and the group sings, “Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want: we’re young enough to say. Oh, this has gotta be the good life, this really could be a good life. Got this feeling that you can’t fight, like this city is on fire tonight. Please tell me what there is nothing to complain about: when you’re happy like a fool, let it take you over; when everything is out, you gotta take it in. Oh, this could really be a good life.” They are singing, I believe, that life is what you make it, and wherever you are, whatever you do, you can make it something good. It is what easily happens if people slow down and do some serious thinking about life, our theme today.
Before them, we heard the second song from her this morning on our show, the song featured on my website www.frmikescully.com today, from Taylor Swift and her album “The Life of a Showgirl,” and the song “The Fate of Ophelia”. As we have said over the months it has been in the top 10, it cleverly involves a study of one of the plays of William Shakespeare, namely his play “Hamlet” and Hamlet’s once-upon-a-time presumed future wife Ophelia. The play is a tragedy, but the song is a powerful anthem about being rescued from the brink of psychological collapse by an all-consuming lover. He brings about a true resurrection for her. “Late one night,” she sings, “you dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.” It is exactly what is supposed to happen if there is a deep love of each other. As I have said a couple times, perhaps we should learn from Taylor Swift’s song more than Mr. Shakespeare’s play, and slow down, our theme today, and think about the good things that happen to us.
Our topic this morning is revolving around that idea of slowing down in life and studying how we are behaving. Before we leave this half-hour, here is a thought from an anonymous cynical author again: “I love my country / aside from most of the people in it.” Yes, indeed. Don’t even think of touching that dial—it is set for Mix 103.3 and MATT, and we implore you to keep it there.
Part 10
Welcome back to the show that gives you the top 10 of today and yesterday along with their messages. We call it MATT, and I remind you all the time that the messages contained in the songs can be understood in such a way as to help our lives. I’m your host, Fr. Mike and we have taken off from an idea inspired by birthday person last Friday Ariana Grande and that theme is “Slowing Down” as we study the circumstances of the songs.
Let’s go to a song that is on my website this coming Wednesday, and the beginning of yet another triple play. It begins with a song with an inspiring video, “Picture perfect,” they sing, “you don’t need no filter, gorgeous, make ‘em drop dead, you a killer. Shower you with all my attention--these are my only intentions. Shout out to your Mom and Dad for making you, standing ovation, they did a great job raising you. When I create, you’re my muse, that kind of smile that makes the news. Can’t nobody throw shade on your name in these streets. You make it easy to choose, you got a mean touch I can’t refuse.” Giving compliments to our love friends is such a great idea and it is one of those things that everyone of us would understand, if we slowed down a little, our theme today, and really thought about others. MATT presenting here Canadian singer Justin Bieber and rapper Quavious Keyate Marshall better known as Quavo from Justin Bieber’s album “Changes” and their song from 2020, “Intentions” on MATT.
(triple) INTENTIONS / Justin Bieber f/ Quavo
GIRLS LIKE YOU / Maroon 5 f/ Carli B
4 DRACULA / Tame Impala
Part 11
Our theme last week, when we talked about hoping for true love, that is what is called a musical project. It is the creation of Australian instrumentalist Kevin Parker and he is accompanied by South Korean singer Jennie. It is from the album “Deadbeat” and the song “Dracula”, number 4 this week on MATT. According to the experts, the song is wanting a love connection while simultaneously facing vulnerability, portraying a person who feels safest in the shadows and most uncomfortable in the daylight. The lyrics are these: comparing himself to a vampire, “The morning light is turning blue, the feeling is bizarre,” they begin their song. “The night is almost over, I still don’t know where you are. The shadows, they keep me like a movie star, daylight makes me feel like Dracula. In the end, I hope it’s you and me in the darkness, I would never leave. Run from the sunlight, Dracula.” It brings up the thought of hoping for true love midst all the problems and situations that come into our lives, and that is something that can only happen when a person slows down, our theme today.
Before them, we heard a former number 1 song that was in the top 10 for a number of weeks. It came from Maroon 5 and Carli B from Maroon 5’s album “Red Pill Blues” and their song “Girls Like You”. It is a song of a man in the relationship who struggles at working a relationship out with his fiancée; then after he does, things are just fine. “Spent 24 hours,” they begin, “I need more hours with you, you spent the weekend getting even. We spent the late nights making things right between us, but now it’s all good, play me close ‘cause girls like you run ‘round with guys like me ‘til sundown when I come through. I need a girl like you—girls like you love fun and me too. I need a girl like you.” What I like about the song is that they worked on their relationship and the way to help it. What they did in terms of our theme is they slowed down their understanding of love and came up with the real thing.
And what are the top 3 songs of our land right now? Well, we will answer that. At number 3 is a song of desire for the girlfriend of someone else. The American Music Awards said that he was the Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and his album, namely “I Barely Know Her” was best rock/alternative album of the year. “You leave me filled with regret,” he sings, “at the end of the night. I always find myself wondering why. Do you got plans for life? ‘Cause I don’t wanna just romance tonight. I wanna see you in another light—with rhythm, there is rhyme. With you, there always can be I. I don’t wanna talk down on your lover, I don’t wanna be a homewrecker. I just know I can be better, I don’t wanna be a broken record. We lay and contemplate—just one more round of love before you go home to another one.” The love that he wants just may come to be, as the video shows, but before it happens, there will have to be some compromise to work things out, not to mention that he has to make a decision of which one to pursue in a relationship. And before one does that, he/she will have to slow down his life, our theme today and do some serious thinking. This is Sombr and his song “Homewrecker”, number 3 on MATT.
(double) 3 HOMEWRECKER / Sombr
2 I JUST MIGHT / Bruno Mars
Part 12
At number 2 in our countdown, from his album “The Romantic” again, Bruno Mars and the song “I Just Might” on MATT. The song is one of wanting another to show her love for him by good dancing. “It would break my heart,” he sings, “if I find out you can’t move. You better show me now ‘cause when I take you to the floor, you gotta get down. Hey, Mr. DJ, play a song for this pretty little lady ‘cause if she dance as good as she look right now, I just might make her my baby.” It is a rather selfish song in the sense that the man is really only thinking of himself, but, as we have done with the song, some general thoughts on dancing might be in order as we think of the song. As usual with him—Bruno Mars—the song has quite a good dance video. In terms of our theme this week, good dancing might happen if a person slows down and thinks about it. Well, maybe.
And the number 1 song for three weeks in a row this week comes from London born Olivia Dean, from her album “The Art of Loving,” and her song “So Easy”, her second song in the top 10 for her. It is a song of the desire for love of one particular person. “I could be the twist, the one to make you stop,” she begins the song, “The icing on the cake, the cherry on the top. It’s heaven in my heart, and we could find you some space. I could be the world to you, the missing piece, that extra kind of chemistry. Some people make it hard; with me, that isn’t the case ‘cause I make it so easy to fall in love. So, come give me a call, and we’ll fall into us. I’m the perfect mix of Saturday night and the rest of your life. Anyone with a heart would agree: it’s so easy to fall in love with me.” So, a rather straightforward statement to someone looking for love of a particular person. In terms of our theme, once again this love can happen only after a person slows down a little and does some serious thinking.
We have considered that thought of how slowing down can help a situation from Ariana Grande’s 2018 song “Breathin’.” My prayer for you and me is that we will all be able to slow down a little and be able to think seriously about our lives. My thanks to the producers of “Message at the Top,” who put the show together, to the staff here at Mix 103, and to our sponsors, my friends at TMP-Marian Junior and Senior High School in Hays, Holy Family Elementary School in Hays, Hays Car and Truck Alignment and Auto World in Hays. If you have some song suggestions, or if you want to comment on anything I have said, 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 meditations on the Gospels, these songs and some great movies and a transcript of the show. Remember that you can join us on the web every Sunday morning at 10 central daylight time by going to www.hayspost.com and choosing Mix 103. Let me close by quoting my dear friend Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous: “Life is like Wi-Fi — sometimes you’re connected, sometimes you’re lost.” We can all identify with that, I think. Our number 1 song is coming up for us-- Olivia Dean’s “So Easy,” and as you listen, may I remind you that you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103, and among other things we remind you to hold a good thought. My name is Fr. Mike Scully. Get ready for the fourth, stay safe, peace to you, and be good!
1 SO EASY / Olivia Dean