A Song to Sing, a Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice

I always appreciate the swiftness in receiving a product, that I need as soon as I can get it.

This book supports what many of us have long felt: that music is perhaps the best medium to express joy and affirmation of life. The thoughts and experiences of this father-daughter pair, one a church musician and the other a popular performer, resonate with those of us who are neither, but who love to sing and/or listen to and/or play music. Sometimes the prose gets repetitive, but it's always clear. You'll find yourself nodding vigorously, and probably smiling too, throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book since I am an Indigo Girls fan-particularly of Emily's song writing. This book is about tolerance of all music and how it affects just about all that we do. It talks about some of the stories behind Emily's song lyrics which I find fascinating, but also gives a great history behind many of the hymns that her father plays in their church. I would have liked to have seen Emily mention her mother and her impact on her song writing, but overall...the language and the ideas expressed in this book are beautiful and wonderful. I was sent this book as a gift, and it truly was. What a delightful treat to read.

Can't get that song out of your head? Neither can they. In their new book "A Song to Sing, A Life to Live" Don Saliers, renowned professor of theology at Emory, and his daughter Emily Saliers, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter of the Indigo Girls, sing in harmony the praises of music and its connection to the soul. They remind us that it is music which generates the vibrating strings of energy connecting us to all living things. Their discussions of how music helps to shape us by connecting us to memories, people, places, and the Divine Source is both uplifting and inspirational. Both Don and Emily provide insights into how music has inspired them and directed their lives not only on a path of self-discovery, but a path of discovering the world around them; a world made visible only through music. This book will make you stop and look at the music you enjoy in a different light. I was deeply moved by the story of a young girl, Sarah, on her death bed waiting to hear Emily, and Indigo Girls partner Amy Ray, sing Emily's "Southland in the Springtime"; dying only hours after the duo finished their song. It made me question why even in death we long to fill our soul with our favorite music, but as Don and Emily point out, the cycle of life moves to music. They remind us that we cannot escape the rhythms with which daily life moves; whether it is the bustle of traffic, the roar of the ocean, or the singing of the birds. Our own bodies would not exist without the heart's intricate beating and the exact rhythm of our breathing. In essence, we are born in rhythm and die in song. I highly recommend this book as a primer in understanding the connection between music and the soul. This book is enlightening, uplifting, and fun. As an added bonus you'll also be treated to the personal stories and anecdotes of Don and Emily's encounters with music. Thank you Don and Emily for your courage and openness. Rock on!