Give me a second to provide a secondary dot before I get to the main point of this blog post.
Recently in class I was lecturing on writing traits before my students started writing their essays. When I came to the trait of Voice / Tone, I introduced it as the magical trait. Where the real heart of writing is expressed. On my slide for this it stated that this is the connection between writer and reader.
Then, I asked them to consider their favorite musical artist. We discussed the reasons they had for enjoying their music. One student said that the artist sang about things that she connected with. I smiled and pointed at my PowerPoint.
I learned of the passing of Duncan Sheik earlier today. He was 56.
I want to cry, but I have a full day of classes.
I was in a meeting when my mom texted me that Prince had passed away. I couldn’t cry then, either.
Macklemore wrote, “In fifty-something years, I won’t be here / There’ll be a kid with some headphones coverin’ his ears / Walkin’ ’round a hallway, dreamin’ of ideas / Find himself in the sound ’cause music is a mirror” (song, “Excavate”).
Today my mirror is darker because of Duncan Sheik’s death. There will be people who don’t cry because of this, but they didn’t have the same connection, and that is OK. I did not cry when Dolly Parton passed away last month. Not the same connection.
But we all cry for someone because of the connections. The magic of voice. A voice that I can still enjoy through Duncan Sheik’s music.
This song was number 23 on my top 100 songs of all time… If you take the time to listen, you may understand me better.
