I wake up singing. Every day.
This morning, it was “Bennie & the Jets” by Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Why “Bennie & the Jets”?
I have no idea. Who really even knows the words to that song?
Upon reflection, I may have some idea, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
“Bennie & the Jets” it’s not the usual type of song I wake up singing. However, as I think about it, I could wake up singing any song — anything — because I wake up singing something, every day.
I had this realization a few months ago. Almost every morning I wake up singing a song in my head. Music is woven into the fabric of my life. I would dare say, into my being. It speaks to me. It moves me.
As a child I sang all the time and I still do. As children our parents gave us control of a little record player and we listened to everything from the Jan and Dean to Three Dog Night to Elvis. Instead of candy I would buy 45s at the general store across the street with the money my Grandma gave me. When I could save up enough I started buying albums before moving on to 8-tracks, then cassettes and finally CDs. Growing up, music was playing all the time in our world.
On my Dad’s side of the family, we made our own music. The sound of guitars playing and gorgeous family harmonies filled the air at almost every family gathering. We still sing when we can get together, sometimes purposing the get-together around music. Most of my family still play something and most of them sing. They continue to pass this gift on to their own families.
My Dad and my Mom loved music of every kind. I suppose I gained that love of music from them. My husband, a musician, says that I love music more than anyone he knows. I’m not sure about that — but I do wake up singing. Every. Day.
Most often, the Lord uses these morning tunes to speak to me in some way. To remind me of an amazing moment, to comfort me, or some days, just to get me up and going. Like I said, it can be any song, any style. It doesn’t have to be labeled as “Christian” music, though I am a Jesus follower. Yet I have learned that most often He speaks my language, what I can relate to, so that I’ll hear and connect with Him. This morning though, really? “Bennie & the Jets”?
I did not want this song to be the flagship post for this new blog, though I actually love many of Sir Elton’s songs and have a childhood full of them, I don’t even know what “Bennie & the Jets” is really all about.
This past week I spent a day with my sisters. We hadn’t gotten to do that in a while, not really since our mom was suddenly sick in the Spring and passed away this Summer. We spent a lot of time together during those 8-weeks. Tough weeks. Daughters had to become decision-makers. It was a brutal season. Hard days.
But this day, this day with my sisters was a good day. A peace-filled day. No sorrow. No looking back. Instead we looked forward. Ber starts a new job in a week and is getting married soon, so we had much to talk about. Diana had a birthday over the summer that kind of got lost in all of the busyness, so we took her to breakfast. There was fun and shopping and laughter and… music. We rode in Di’s car and she was tuned-in to ‘70s music (the decade of one extreme to the other — and I love every genre therein).
That’s where I heard “Bennie & the Jets” for the first time in a long time and of course we sang loudly, “B-B-B- Bennie and the Jets.” At least Diana and I did, which surely made Ber, who was riding in the back seat, roll her eyes. I’m still smiling as I think about that day.
Last night I dreamed about my mother. It was a good dream. She was getting ready to leave the house, taking my Aunt Becky, who passed away just three months before her, along for the ride. I wasn’t afraid for them to go. In fact, in my dream, they kissed me on the cheek as they were leaving. Aunt Becky, who had been wheelchair bound for many years, walked over, bent down, kissed me on the cheek and said, “We’ll see you after while.” They both looked so good as they headed out the door.
And then I woke up singing, “Bennie & the Jets”.
Perhaps it was “Bennie & the Jets” because of a feeling of peace. That same peaceful feeling I had that day in the car with my sisters was the same peaceful feeling that the dream gave me. Maybe the song was triggered because that day with my sisters was our first time together since our mother died and the dream was about her leaving. Maybe it was because I recently heard the song and it was backlogged in my mind… lol. I really don’t know why.
I don’t even know most of the words to the song… who does? But everyone knows the groove and they sings parts of the song loudly, even if they make up their own words. Remember the famous scene in the movie, “27 Dresses”? Or the reference to Bennie, the Jet, from the movie, “The Sandlot”? I’m sure there are many more references and versions as it was and is such a popular song.
I looked up the lyrics today. Reading them aloud, they seemed nonsensical and perhaps that’s the reason most people don’t actually know the words. In interviews, Bernie Taupin has mentioned that the song's lyrics are a satire on the music industry of the 1970s and that helped me understand the lyrics, though I most likely still won’t remember them. I didn’t even know there were any other names in the song, except for Bennie, but this morning I woke up singing,
“She's got electric boots, a mohair suit,
You know I read it in a magazine,
O-oh-B-B-B-Bennie and the Jetssssssss”
I simply enjoyed the moment. Hope you enjoy it too:
https://youtu.be/p5rQHoaQpTw
