#7 Lenten Reflections
I love music. Everything about it. In college, I worked at a restaurant called Black Bart’s Steakhouse, Saloon, & Musical Review in Flagstaff, AZ. Most nights I carried five plates on my arm filled with T-bone steaks and slung colorful cocktails called things like the “Arizona Sunset” and the “Singapore Sling”. On the half-hour, the staff would stop and we’d all belt out a few Broadway tunes – then as the “Saints Went Marching In” or a favorite “Phantom” song ended with harmony bouncing off the knotty pine walls, it was business as usual. Throughout the night servers would jump on stage to sing assigned solos which were listed on the back of the swinging kitchen door. It was the best job. I sang alongside phenomenally talented people who have gone on to direct movies, sing in operas throughout the world, and work at NPR. Some of us teach and blog. Well, that might just be me, but I’ve got some priceless memories and really cool friends.
I am always hunting for fun music that I can connect with, so when I was reading the “Deamon Deacon” a fantastic, daily blog put out at my daughter’s university, I stumbled upon a recommendation for a soulful song by 20-year-old Aimee Carty that blew me away.
Aimee Carty is a young Irish singer/songwriter who is a master of storytelling. Each song is laden with wonderfully catchy lyrics that sound like a journal entry. “Two Days into College” is one of those songs I want to memorize, analyze, and share. Today I walked the dogs and listened to it five times. Possibly seven. I couldn’t stop listening. Carty’s voice is absolutely delightful and heartwarming and as she sits at the piano singing, you just want to be in the room with her and hang out.
One evening while we were washing dishes, I played “Two Days into College” in the kitchen and heard my son singing along. Turns out he had already heard it on TikTok. You see, sports and music are his main feed, so although he had seen Carty sing the song herself, he had recently seen Duke basketball player, Jared McCain singing the introduction to “Two Days into College” on TikTok. Turns out I’m not the only one who memorized the lovely and honest lyrics. It went viral. McCain boosted her name, it was so sweet.
The lyrics read like prose…a story she jotted in her journal or just told her friend on the phone. She talks about her first two days of college, being behind (already), worrying about doing too much or not enough, messy rooms, and a boy she named Collin who doesn’t play guitar.
Carty makes it effortless to relate to her song…as those two days could be the first of anything: a new job, a first date, the first moments of grief or joy or wonder.
And isn’t it so, that every day we are on the cusp of sorrow or stress, bliss or the unknown, maybe we should take two days at a time and reflect like Aimee Carty.
I’ll leave you with her healing, wise words:
God, I know
The one thing that’s important above everything else
Is to learn not to put all this heavy pressure on myself
I try believe it when I say
“If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen anyway
I’ll be fine”
I’ve got time
I’ve got time
That’s where I’m at, to be honest
Just two days
Two days into college
Thanks for joining me,
❤️Lucretia
You can follow Aimee Carty on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Note: I have no idea why everything above is in italics. I pressed something after midnight and couldn’t “undo” it. Even after saying a few choice words. Some things are just meant to be I guess. Have a happy day.
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