“Want you sing me back home 
With a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
And take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die” (Merle Haggard).

I’ve been watching the documentary on country music by Ken Burns and marveling at how good a filmmaker he is and at how much fascinating history there is to the genre of country music.

It also got me thinking of what makes a song good, what truly sets it apart from the thousands and millions out there that don’t make the cut.

For me, a good song can take my own thoughts and feelings and put them to words in a way I never could. It’s almost like having your own diary read back to you in someone else’s voice.

The right song at the right moment is magical. I can probably think of several movies where the perfect song elevated a particular scene to make it memorable (and in some cases iconic). Personally, I can hear a song and be transported back to when I first heard it — what I was thinking and feeling at the time.

There’s healing power in music. I know because I’ve seen it firsthand. After a stressful day, music has been able to lift me out of my own problems and transport me somewhere else, even if only for a little while.

Music is good.