Little Red's 365 Day Blog Post Challenge #4- A song that makes me cry and why

The song?

"Paradise" by Coldplay.

Why?

1. The last word my mum ever texted me (and we texted a lot, well I texted her a lot) was the word "paradise". I was complaining about how many more kilometers we had to drive home to Melbourne from Sydney. The number was 276 approximately. Her last "words" to me were "Chin up, last stretch and back to paradise". It really was a kind of paradise with her in my life, a pillar of support, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a mum to hug and a woman and mother to inspire me. Then she died suddenly and that was it. Paradise spoiled. I'll miss her for the rest of my days.

2. Coldplay is my favourite band of all time. They were also one of my dad's favourite bands. I inherited (so thankfully) his passion for music. Not a day goes by where I don't listen to them. Dad would really have loved this song and I can picture him tapping his foot from the stalls, watching them live and pretending to not really be that interested (even though inside, his ears are in musical heaven)

3. Why do I cry? Because my son always wants to listen to this song and sometimes, I just can't bear to, even though it's one of my all-time favourites (and with a collection of over 75,000 pieces of music in my possession, it's a great achievement by Coldplay if I do say so myself). Sometimes I don't feel like breaking down. When I'm happy, I love listening to Paradise. When I'm on the edge, nope. Can't cope. The tears don't stop. The first time I listened to this song after my mum died was only two weeks ago. She died in April. It took me that long to hear the word "paradise" again and luckily enough, I hadn't by chance heard it on the radio in that time. As I listened to the song in my kitchen in the dark of night, I grabbed my tiny daughter, held her close and danced with her cheek to cheek. I quietly sobbed the words to her and she drifted off to sleep. I was lonely for the first time, even though I wasn't alone.

"Paradise" reminds me of both my angel parents (RIP) in a significant, life-changing way. Songs play one of the most important roles in my life, they remind of people I've met, people I've loved, people I've lost, places I've been, memories I've made and times in my life when my moods and emotions were at different ends of the spectrum. Most importantly, songs remind me of how far I've come in my life and what I have to be thankful for.

Watch and listen here

(Image courtesy of imgfave.com )