Savage Words: The music pierces you straight in your heart

A buddy of mine asked me what I was writing about this week. He said he enjoyed my column and was looking forward to this one.

I told him it was about choir.

He raised an eyebrow, and looked puzzled, perhaps questioning my subject choice.

“I don’t think I’ve ever read a story about a choir,” he said.

Fair enough. Point taken.

Coming up with something to write about each week can sometimes be a challenge. But I don’t stress…something always comes up.

But this week it was a no-brainer. Even with my friend casting doubts about making a choir column interesting, what I witnessed at Augustana University during their fall choir concert last week was – in a word – moving.

At least for me it was. It moved me to tears, more than once.

Maybe it’s because I’m a dorky dad of one of those choir members puncturing the air with beautiful noises. I swear I can distinctly hear my daughter’s voice in the midst of everyone else up there. 

I’ve been a sportswriter for more than three decades, so the best way I can explain how powerful last week’s concert was for me is to put it in some sort of sports context. For years, I’ve asked college athletes if it’s true that when you go from high school to college, are the players that much bigger, faster, stronger?

The answer is always yes.

I thought the same thing last week at Augustana. I’ve sat through many high school choir concerts as my daughter sang. They were always good, really good. But last week, the voices were stronger, louder, crisper and shot straight to your soul. There is something magical, simply magical, about it.

I also couldn’t help but think while I was listening to this music that continually put a lump in my throat that just 24 hours earlier, I was covering a football game. I experienced two very different things in a short matter of time. I have my daughter to thank for that. She’s opened my eyes to so many other things I never knew anything about.

I watched guys falling all over each other on a Friday, and fought back tears at the Chapel of Reconciliation in the center of Augustana’s campus on Saturday. I’m a lucky guy.

One of the songs the choir hammered out was Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A Changin.’ As I watched the young faces singing Dylan’s classic, it occurred to me that they probably don’t quite understand that those lyrics are more than just words on a piece of paper in their hands. For those of us with birthdays on our side, it hits with a wallop.

The entire night was like that for me. I looked around, wondering if I was the only one fighting emotions. 

I wasn’t…thankfully. That music pierces you straight in your heart. The older you get, the more beautiful that music becomes and it strikes a deep chord.

It was more than once when I was in awe. The sounds coming out of those young people hits you like a freight train ramming straight through your chest. 

You may not know it, just like me, but going to events like that is good for your outlook on life. It’ll blow your hair back, and I was grateful I got to see it.

I hope you’re inspired to pay one a visit soon. Both Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls have concerts scheduled this winter. You’ll be inspired.

For me at least, last week was a choir concert worth writing about.