The Day Music Died and What it Means to a Generation

I love the song “American Pie” by Don McLean. Never did I imagine the music would die twice in one year – David Bowie in January and just last week Prince. For me, their losses are sobering - even though their music will live on for eternity.

I was crazy busy April 21 so I didn’t see or hear the news of Prince’s death until nearly dinner time. I didn’t have the time to read everything about his death but I read most of the social media posts from friends - older and younger. All I can say is the sense of loss is real, although most of us only knew the public Prince. We didn’t need much more to know his music was brilliant and he was teaching us about life.

We are gathered here today

To get through this thing called life

Electric word life

It means forever and that's a mighty long time

Prince, 1958-2016

Sometimes, a mighty long time isn't nearly long enough. One of the things I love the most about music is its ability to recreate a moment and at the same time give hope to the future.

Do you remember the day the music died? I'll start: I still remember my mom watching the news when Elvis died and again when Ricky Nelson died. And I’ll never forget the phone call from my sister when Frank Sinatra died. Come to think of it, she’s the one who told me about David Bowie AND Prince. Hmm…