Music Tag

Dear people,

We've got a lovely treat in store for us today, we have! You see, Miss Lizzie Hexam has been around and tagged us for a delightful sort of thing called The Music Tag. (With music in it, in case that was not immediately obvious, and ought therefore to be clarified.)

And I am very happy to say you're getting a fairly decent mix of some of my favourite songs here! (Though it really SHOULD have included Billy Green in the lineup, and Didn't. I shall try to forgive it, since I never noticed the lack until just now, though now that I have, that may be rough going XD) Now, like Lizzie, I don't use any kind of music streaming platform, and unlike Lizzie, I actually don't use YouTube for it very much either, so this playlist had no choice but to be dependant on my own collection of previously acquired songs! Since my device very obligingly came with an app for the stuff.

I was so afraid that the shuffle wouldn't work properly, (it doesn't always,) and give you just a straight diet of High Valley or something... But it didn't. For which I am grateful, because while I do enjoy High Valley, Too Much Of One Kind is not exactly what the doctor ordered for this particular purpose :P Though it then leaned rather more towards Josh Turner, so there is that XD Not my idea, I promise!

But, without further ado, except pausing to insert the rules neatly in between the wordflow and the songs, shall we get on with the music? (Though like Lizzie, I should say that the snippets of lyric I've picked out aren't necessarily my ABSOLUTE favourite part of each, because that is so hard to narrow things down to, but simply a bit I liked, and that worked well as a stand-alone :)

The Rules

• Write ten songs that come on shuffle (no skipping)
• Write your favorite lyric from each song
• Tag some people


And we begin!


1. "Born And Raised" by the Hunter Brothers

I'll never leave this little town

The family, the memories,

the roots that I put down. Know who I am,

ain't gonna change

Might find a brand-new melody,

but the song remains the same.


This one always seems a little like home to me, because it was not only sung by farming Canadians, but written by someone from my own province! Which, y'know, makes it special.



2. "I Will Stand By You" by High Valley

Now I can't carry the world on my shoulders

This I know is true

But if you need me, I will be there

And I will, I will stand by you

I will stand by you.


This... Okay, I know this is one of High Valley's older songs, but I love it... And it's funny to see them all so young in this video😄


3. "Til The Answer Comes (You Gotta Keep Praying)" Paul Overstreet


If you knock one time and there's no answer

Well, don't walk away from the door

You've got to knock again until you've been let in

Sometimes it only takes once more.



4. "Heaven On Dirt" by the Hunter Brothers


I pray for rain, I pray for sunshine.

Oh, but not too much and not too little,

Gotta be just right, right in the middle.

I wouldn’t trade a day of my life.

It might take a lot of heart and a whole lot of work, but it’s paradise, it’s heaven on dirt.

What can I say that this song hasn't already? It's very, very true, people. And beautiful. And hard. And worth it.



5. "Way Back When" by Ryan Lindsay


"Way back when getting home was

Saskatoon pickin' till your buckets are full

Homemade jam, on homemade toast

Well I’d do it all over again,

Way back when."

Y'all, this song is HOME rolled up neatly into a couple of minutes... That right there in this music video is the general spirit of my area, the words, the feel, everything, and it is SO COOL to get to see it summed up in a song!! Here's to Canadian musicians in general and Ryan Lindsay in particular, I say😜



6. "Skate" by Tim And The Glory Boys

I wanna just

Skate skate skate

Like a TimBit kid

Like Wayne the Great

Let the leaves on the breeze

And the Zambonis’

Carry all our cares away.


And what could be more appropriate, seeing as it's almost skating season again!! The ski resort ads are already out and about, and trade off occasionally with ads of people waiting impatiently for the rinks and hockey games to open for the season... And even though I do have something of an unpatriotic indifference towards hockey, I'll still be happy to have ice for my skates again :P

Have a fun little extra video of Tim And The Glory Boys just because it's--well, fun. (Aren't I eloquent today??)


7. "Me And God" by Josh Turner

He's my Father
He's my friend
The beginning
And the end
He rules the world
With a staff and the rod
We're a team
Me and God

I am weak and he is strong
Me and God
He forgives me when I'm wrong
Me and God
He's the one I lean on
When life gets hard
Me and God.

Josh Turner, of course. You did already catch on to the fact that I'm a fan, right? Because if you hadn't, you'll have ample proof of it before this playlist is done XD Just wait and see...


8. "Good Ol' Boys" by Josh Turner

Just the good old boys
Wouldn't change if they could
Fightin' the system
Like two modern day Robin Hoods

See, what did I tell you? Here he is again😜

Though I didn't get this one entirely because it was him singing it, the song itself also had just a little to do with it... Because who doesn't like a flying car or two every once in a while, especially if they happen to be orange with great big flags painted on their roofs??



9. "Ants On A Log" by Randy Travis

Ants on a log
Floatin' down a river
Runnin' around
But not gettin' anywhere
Power stearin' wheels
Just ain't connected
And we can't jump off like flees on a dog
Can't fly away like flies on a hog
We're really just along for the ride like ants on a log.

*sighs contentedly* There is just Something about Randy Travis...

10. "Your Smile" by Josh Turner

Your smile,
so much joy from such a simple thing
Like an old wheelbarrow filled with summer rain
A blue sky day and sun on my face
And your smile.

THIS. This is my Mac song. "Mac" meaning a Book Character Of My Own Invention, for those of you who haven't met him... And I may have said this before, but I'm saying it again, because for one thing, it included itself in the playlist and is now fair game, and for another, it very much has his "feel" to it. I can just picture him singing it to Katie...

This is Mac, btw.  XD And I just noticed he looks a little like one of my uncles... What are the chances??

Also it is extremely hard to pick a favourite part of, because they all happen to be my favourite... But here is one, and all the rest are there for the enjoying if you happen to click the link ;)

*Enter Julie*

Oh, hello! My turn now? So here are ten random songs from my Spotify...

More Than a Name on a Wall

"She said, "Lord, my boy was special, and he meant so much to me,

And though I'd love to see him, I know it just can't be.

So I thank you for the memories and the moments to recall...

But Lord, could you tell him, he's more than a name on a wall..."

By the way, the Bar J Wranglers is pretty much my favorite singing group of all time. They're amazing. And finally, all their songs are available on youtube! If you haven't, listen now! Please. You wont' regret it. Beautiful western music. Ask me if you wanna know the best ones.

My Confession

"You are the air that I breathe,

You're the ground beneath my feet.

When did I stop believing?"

From one of my favorite singers of all time, Josh Groban. This song is just overflowing with powerful emotion... and those lines, well... they speak for themselves.

By Faith

"By faith this mountain shall be moved,

And the power of the Gospel shall prevail.

For we know in Christ all things are possible,

For all who call upon His name."

I was first introduced to this song at one of the schools where I did field work before I got my teaching license. Clinging to that promise, "By faith this mountain shall be moved..."

Antioch Church House Choir

"Oh, I found me a choir that'll let me sing,

Now I'm singing in the choir.

I can' lift my voice just as high as yours

And maybe just a little higher.

Oh, I found me a choir that'll let me sing,

Now I'm singing in the choir, 

You folks down there can't hold me light

Cuz I'm singing in the heavenly choir."

Another heartbreaker... and the best argument for congregational singing I've ever heard. It's the story of an old man whose only dream was to sing in the church choir. They never would let him, and he kept trying year after year... and finally he died, and now he's singing in the heavenly choir. So he wasn't good enough for a silly little church choir on earth, was he? Well, he's good enough to sing before God Himself. People can be so cruel.

The Old Spinning Wheel

"There's an old spinning wheel in the parlor,

Spinning dreams of the long, long ago.

Spinning dreams of an old fashioned garden, 

And a maid with her old fashioned beau."

I can't believe this song came up XD I used it years ago in the beginning of ATOW, in the scene where we meet Emma. I have such a haphazard way of searching songs and quotes and stuff for my writing... I literally just scrolled through random 30's songs until I found one that sounded like something Emma would like. I've hardly listened to it since, but it still lives in my playlist XD I love Slim Whitman though. His Christmas album is a classic for my family.

For My Freedom

"The chains they are fallen and the wall's comin' down.

I stand and I step into the sunlight.

The children are laughing, there's dancing all around,

We're dancing today for our freedom."

Ah, yes, one of the epic Nest Entertainment songs. They did a series of history hero videos that, while intended for kids, are good enough for adults to enjoy. (I still do, of course, I adore them.) This is one of the songs from the Abraham Lincoln film, during the scene when he signs the Emancipation Proclamation and frees the slaves.

I Love You Will Still Sound the Same

"Could you see yourself growing old with me,

Watchin' my hair turn to grey?

Could you live with me in my mistakes

And the ones I have yet to make?"

Into the Open Air

"This love, it is a distant star,

Guiding us home wherever we are.

This love, it is a burning sun,

Shining light on the things that we've done."

Stand By Me

"When I do the best I can

And my friends don't understand,

Thou who never lost a battle,

Stand by me."

One thing I've learned from life is that sometimes people can't be counted on... and you have to remember that God is your foundation and not let it shake your faith when friends turn their backs on you...

Love of my Life

"Love of my life, you've hurt me.

You've broken my heart, and now you leave me.

Love of my life, can't you see?

Bring it back, bring it back,

Don't take it away from me

Because you don't know what it means to me."

This is another ATOW song... I listen to music for inspiration, this was one for Ronnie and Lissie...

*Emi comes in again, nodding with satisfaction*

There now, I do believe that about wraps things up! Except for tagging a smallish handful (since people are being tagged left right and center, and when one doesn't know so very many...😜) of lovely people and their blogs myself... Hmm, let's see. I hereby tag...


• Karis Anne

• Liz Churchill at The Antique Bookworm

• Miranda at from nie

Thanks again for the tag, Lizzie! This was such a neat post to do, and it's so thrilling to be able to get one up semi-promptly for once😄

~Emi