Go Change the World. It’s Not Too Late. Is It?
Who will know peace, because you exist?
Who will sleep easier because you lived?
Do what comes easy- use your gifts. *
Recently I attended a CD release launch party for singer/songwriter Carlene Thissen’s Roses in the Sand album.
Carlene is not nationally or globally known for her music. You may never have heard of her the same way you may never have heard of an author like me. But one of her songs inspired me to write this blog
Carlene and I met many years ago and ran into each other one day by chance. We knew each other casually/socially but we’d never had a one-on-one sit-down conversation. Carlene mentioned that she’d begun singing in a few local venues and that she was writing songs. I told her I’d written some song lyrics but I had no idea how to set them to music. Thus our collaboration was born.
Carlene and I co-wrote the lyrics to two of the songs on her new CD. Couple of Strays and Roses in the Sand. As Carlene tells it, both times we set out to write happy songs. But both of these songs are heartbreaking ballads. (If you want to write sad songs, call me.)
At the launch party, Marie Nofsinger soloed on Couple of Strays, about a homeless veteran and his dog, told from the dog’s point of view. Even though I co-wrote the lyrics, when Marie sang, “Everything we own is stuffed in our cart. My favorite bone, his Purple Heart,” I got choked up. I don’t think I was the only one. This is her song. She knew how to time the lyrics and inject emotion into every line. I wish Marie would record this one.
I’d never been to a CD launch party before and I was one of maybe fifty attending.
The last song on the album is Go Change the World. As I stood listening to the performance, I looked around the room and considered the lives Carlene has touched with her music. We all touch the lives of others. It’s always within our power to go change the world. Even if it’s our small corner of the world. Even if what we do doesn’t have a global impact. It starts with us, with what we’re passionate about. With what we do with that passion. For Carlene it’s music. And through her music she’s brought people together. She’s touched lives and she’s changed lives. Hers. Mine. Maybe yours.
Carlene didn’t start writing and singing professionally until she was 50 or so. I didn’t start writing novels until I was 30. Neither of us have “hit it big” but that doesn’t lessen the impact we may have made on those within our sphere.
There’s a lesson for all of us in the refrain of Go Change the World:
Go change the world, it’s not too late
Age doesn’t matter, it’s a brand new day
Time matters – start today!*
Lyrics from Change the World by Carlene Thissen Copyright 2006 Modified 2014
Find more about Carlene Thissen and her music here:
Carlene A. Thissen
www.reverbnation.com/carlenethissen
Member: BMIAmericana Community Music Association
Global Songwriters Connection
Nashville Songwriters Association
Women of Substance Radio Female Musician Academy
