June 28, 2020

"How to Escape the Misery"

Part 1
            Hello Central Kansas and around the world!  Welcome to the last Sunday of the great month of June and as we celebrate Independence Day this week.  Saturday is of course the big day.  Happy birthday, America!  Every Sunday morning at this time, we take the opportunity that this great radio station gives us, and we talk about the songs that are most popular in our land right now in light of living better lives.  We take the top 10, some top 10’s of the past, mix them all up, and study their meanings and actually help our lives in the process.  We take a lead song every week, and study all of the songs of our show in light of the theme supplied by that song.  I’m Fr. Mike Scully, and I’m glad that you have joined us this morning.  Let’s talk about rain today.  Well, not only rain, but talk about the misery that rain can cause.
            And the reason for that is our lead song today from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande.  And they inspired me to go through our playlist and grab all of the top 10’s from the year 1980 that have rain in their title, and we will give them to you during our show.  First let’s talk about Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s song. 
            It has quite a dance video and you might want to check it out on You-Tube.  Its meaning according to Lady Gaga has to do with tears that she is shedding because of a lost relationship.  The rain symbolizes drinking.  She wishes she wasn’t drinking, but she is still alive nonetheless.  “I didn’t ask for a free ride,” they sing, “I only asked you to show me a real good time.  I never asked for the rainfall; you showed me nothing at all.  It’s coming down on me, water like misery.  I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.  Living in a world where no one’s innocent.  Oh, but at least we try.  Gotta live my truth, not keep it bottled in so I don’t lose my mind.  Rain on me.”  
            The thought that caught my attention was her line, “water like misery.”  That was what was happening as she was thinking of the lost relationship—crying and feeling miserable.  I looked up “misery” on the Internet, and found anything from rock groups to hate columns, but there was an anonymous statement that someone quoted that I thought was rather good.  Before playing the song, let me quote it for you:
Often, misery is useful,
it brings to light things going on inside of us
and helps to educate us
about our deepest fears, needs, hopes and issues.
Since many things we would rather not know about
are nonetheless inside us,
affecting us anyway,
leaking into our lives like toxic waste into ground water,
there may be no harm in experiencing the misery;
so long as it helps to clarify
what is devitalizing and limiting us through the years;
so long as it helps to bring the dull pain of not living fully
into a clearer focus;
that lets us begin to take action
by applying our conscious mind to the wound.
It says basically that we have to allow the misery that comes to us to be a teacher.  Now, I thought that was pretty good, and a fairly positive statement about a fairly negative topic.
            I thought that it would be a good idea to use misery as a theme this morning, but be a little positive, calling our show “How to Escape the Misery”, and to start us off, from her album “Chromatica”, this is Stefani Joanne Angeline Germonotta, better known as Lady Gaga along with Ariana Grande, and “Rain on Me” at number 9 on MATT.
(double)     9 RAIN ON ME / Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
                               RAIN / Creed
 
Part 2
            There are nine songs that have “rain” in their title on our playlist on MATT.  One of them we played recently from Prince—Purple Rain—so we are playing the other eight on our show today.  And that last one was from the group Creed from their album “Full Circle,” and their song from 2009, “Rain”.  The song is an inspiration to everyone since we all need help with our problems, whether it's school, drugs, alcohol, or peer pressure.  “Can you help me out,” they begin their song, “can you lend me a hand?  It’s safe to say that I’m stuck again trapped between this life and the light.  I just can’t figure out how to make it right.  A thousand times before I’ve wondered if there’s something more.  I feel it’s gonna rain like this for days, so let it rain down and wash everything away.  I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine.  With every tomorrow comes another life.”  So, a hopeful song, since the sun will shine even though there are problems.  With our theme being “How to Escape the Misery,” one way is to turn to the One who gives us the something more that they are singing about, namely God, asking God for the help we need. 
            Most of our songs will come at you in triple play, and here is the first triple play beginning with a “rain” song from the group Nelson.  “After the rain washes away the tears, all the pain,” they sing, “only after the rain you’ll live again.  After the rain you’ll see the sun again to light the way.  Only after the rain can you hope to find true love again.”  Excellent message.  The group is singing that pain is not totally negative.  What it means is that we should use the pain.  It fits easily into our theme today, as one of the ways to escape the misery is to use the pain as a teacher and learn from it.  This is from the group Nelson and a distant top 10 from 1990 and their song “After the Rain” on MATT.
(triple)       AFTER THE RAIN / Nelson
                               STYLE / Taylor Swift
                      10 SUNDAY BEST / Surfaces
 
Part 3
            New to the top 10, an American music group based out of College Station, Texas, currently consisting of vocalists/guitarists Forrest Frank and Colin Padalecki, and their song “Sunday Best” from their album “Where the Light Is” at number 10 on MATT.  I would rank it as a 10+ song of meaning, the highest I get, because it is a statement that we can and should be positive.  “Feeling good, like I should,” they begin their song, “Went and took a walk around the neighborhood, feeling blessed, never stressed, got that sunshine on my Sunday best.  Everyday can be a better day despite the challenge.  All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it.  It’s gonna get difficult to stand, but hold your balance.  I just say whatever cause, there is no way around it cause everybody falls down sometimes, but you just gotta know it’ll all be fine.  It’s okay.”  What a great message and cute video as well.  Tying it into our theme is easy: you want to escape the misery of life—choose a positive attitude toward everything that happens.
            Before them, we heard from Taylor Swift from her album “1989” and her song “Style” from 2014.  It is the story of a love relationship that is beginning again after time away from it.  She sings that she shouldn’t be getting into it again, but as with many beginning love relationships, she and the man in the relationship allow things to run their course.  “Midnight,” she sings, “You come and pick me up, no headlights, long drive, could end in burning flames or paradise.  It’s been a while since I have even heard from you.  I should just tell you to leave 'cause I know exactly where it leads but I watch us go 'round and 'round each time.  You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye and I got that red lip classic thing that you like, and when we go crashing down, we come back every time 'cause we never go out of style.  I say, ‘I heard that you've been out and about with some other girl’.  He says, ‘What you've heard is true but I can't stop thinking about you,’ and I said, ‘I've been there too a few times.’”  It is a beginning love relationship, and common feelings that go with it.  Tying it into our theme today, there is often some misery that goes with beginning love relationships, and so we have to learn to go slowly into them.
            That closes our first segment of this last Sunday of June, 2020, as we look forward to Independence Day—I hope it is good for you.  During our next segment we have in order of appearance: the group Supertramp, Dua Lipa, Adele, Nico & Vinz and Justin Bieber —now that is some kind of line-up!  Our theme is “How to Escape the Misery” and here is a thought from the Roman writer Epictetus, like a couple thousand years ago: “He is a man of sense / who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.”  Practice that and our misery will decrease.  Don’t go away.  We’ll be right back as we continue with MATT in a few moments on Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 4
            Welcome back, and hi again, everyone.  I’m Fr. Mike, your host for MATT on today’s best music Mix 103.  Happy Independence Day in a couple of days to all of you.  We are spending some time with some songs from the current top 10, and at the same time we are studying some songs from past top 10’s, concentrating on some songs with “rain” in their titles.  Thanks for joining us again this last Sunday of June, and I hope that we are making your Sunday just a little bit better than it is already.  Our theme today came from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and their song “Rain on Me” and the theme we are using is “How to Escape the Misery.”
            Let’s begin this segment with another “rain” song, this time, giving me my 80’s fix—in fact, 1982.  The group sings about rain that really turns out to be a symbol of bad things that are happening.  “Oh, it’s raining again,” they sing, “my love’s at an end.  You know it’s hard to pretend.  Too bad, I’m losing a friend, oh, will my heart ever mend.”  But I like the determination of the man in the song: “Come on, you little fighter,” they sing, “and get back up again.”  Exactly what has to happen.  If we want to overcome the different miseries in life, as they sing in the song, we absolutely need the determination to carry through with what should be.  This is the group Supertramp, and their song “It’s Raining Again” on MATT.
(double)    IT’S RAINING AGAIN / Supertramp
                               4 DON’T START NOW / Dua Lipa
 
Part 5
          Ms. Dua Lipa there, at number 4, “Don’t Start Now” on MATT.  It is from her future album “Future Nostalgia”.  “Did a full one eighty,” she sings here.  “Crazy, thinking about the way I was.  Did the heartbreak change me?  Maybe, but look at where I ended up.  I'm all good already, so moved on.  It's scary: I'm not where you left me at all.  So if you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody, if you wanna believe that anything could stop me, don't show up, don't come out, don't start caring about me now.”  Her intention in the song is to get across to her ex-boyfriend that she is doing perfectly well without him.  In terms of our theme, there was misery in their relationship, and the way to escape it is to do what she did—say goodbye to it. 
            Adele has an excellent song with “rain” in the title.  It is a song speaking of the contradictions that are present in a relationship.  The lady in the relationship begins by recognizing that she needs the man: “My hands,” she sings, “they’re strong, but my knees were far too weak to stand in your arms without falling to your feet.  But,” she continues, “there’s a side to you that I never knew, all the things you’d say—they were never true, and the games you play, you would always win.  But I set fire to the rain, watched it pour as I touched your face.  Well, it burned while I cried ‘cause I heard it screaming out your name.”  Setting fire to the rain is impossible of course, and it means that their relationship is impossible as long as the man in the relationship is not being honest to the lady in the song.  Great words and clever idea which she is so capable of.  A lack of honesty is a very big cause for misery, to be sure, and the way to escape it is to always be honest.  Tough to do.  The song that won a Grammy in 2013 for Best Pop Solo Performance, “Set Fire to the Rain” from her album “21”, Adele on MATT. 
(triple)     SET FIRE TO THE RAIN / Adele
                               AM I WRONG / Nico & Vinz
                               2 INTENTIONS / Justin Bieber f/ Quavo
 
Part 6
            A song about giving compliments and it has an inspiring video connected with it, MATT presenting there Canadian singer Justin Bieber and rapper Quavious Keyate Marshall better known as Quavo from Justin Bieber’s album “Changes” and their song “Intentions”, moving up to number 2 this week.  “Picture perfect,” Justin Bieber begins the song, “you don’t need no filter, gorgeous, make ‘em drop dead, you a killer.  Shower you with all my attention--these are my only intentions.  Shout out to your Mom and Dad for making you, standing ovation, they did a great job raising you.  When I create, you’re my muse, that kind of smile that makes the news.  Can’t nobody throw shade on your name in these streets.  You make it easy to choose, you got a mean touch I can’t refuse.”  Giving compliments to our love friends is such a great idea and it is a way of escaping misery in our lives, our theme today.  
            Before them, we heard from the Norwegian duo Nico Sereba & Vincent Dery better known as Nico and Vinz and their song “Am I Wrong” from 2013.  It is a great song of meaning, I believe, a 10+, the highest I get, extolling thinking outside the box and feeling good about it.  “Am I wrong,” they sing, “for thinking out the box from where I stay?  Am I wrong for saying that I choose another way?  I ain’t trying to do what everybody else is doing just ‘cause everybody doing what they all do.  If one thing I know, I’ll fall but I’ll grow.  I’m walking down this road of mine, this road I call home.  So am I wrong for thinking that we could be something for real?  Now am I wrong for trying to reach the things that I can’t see.”  It has a great video to study as well.  One of the secrets to discover things in our lives that can be very good for us, I believe, is to be able to think outside the box and if we are able to do it, it will give us inner peace, and that inner peace will be able to overcome the misery in our lives, our theme today.
            We have a complete second hour of music and message to go yet today.  I hope you stay with us, as we pursue our songs today with the thought of “How to Escape the Misery”.  Here is a true statement from a number of years ago.  It comes from the Latin poet Ovid—he lived in the year 0—I’d say that’s a number of years ago.  Great short quote.  Listen—it comes quickly.  “Few love what they have.”  Isn’t that true!  Perhaps we must learn to be satisfied with what we have, and it will help us when we feel miserable. You’ve got the show that we call MATT on your dial right now, and we are playing the top 10 songs of today and yesterday and studying their messages.  We’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 7
            We continue with the only show of its kind in this area, maybe in the whole world.  It is great to have you with us, and the show we have labeled MATT, the show that discovers just what the meanings of the top songs on our chart / are, often giving us some thoughts to live by.  I hope your pre-Independence Day weekend is a good one for you.  My name is Fr. Mike, your host, and we have taken a theme from a song by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, and their song “Rain on Me.”  That theme is “How to Escape the Misery”.
            Right now, we have the song of someone who is lonely to begin with.  She makes a phone call to the one she loves, hoping he will miss her as much as she is missing him.  “If your lips feel lonely and thirsty, kiss the rain, and wait for the dawn.  Keep in mind, we’re under the same sky and the nights are as empty for me, as for you.  If you feel you can’t wait till mornin’, kiss the rain.”  From the song, although the poetry of love is there with her, it seems that the other in the relationship has found someone else, and studying the song with our theme of escaping misery, about the only way to escape the misery for her is to move on to another relationship.  From her album called “Growing Pains”, a past top 10 from Billie Myers’ from the year 1998, and her song “Kiss The Rain” on MATT.
(triple)       KISS THE RAIN / Billie Myers
                   EX’S AND OH’S / Elle King
                               5 ADORE YOU / Harry Styles
 
Part 8
            That was Harry Styles a British singer/songwriter, and former member of the band One Direction and the song is from his album “Fine Line,” his song “Adore You” and it is at number 5 on MATT.  It is a story in song of being totally taken by another.  “Walk in your rainbow paradise,” he sings, “strawberry lipstick state of mind.  I get so lost inside your eyes.  Would you believe it?  You don’t have to say you love me, you don’t have to say nothing.  You don’t have to say you’re mine.  Honey, I’d walk through fire for you.  Just let me adore you.”  He sings that being so taken by another means that he doesn’t even have to communicate with her.  And as I have said, to my mind, that is not correct at all, and one of the most important things to learn in life is to learn to communicate with everyone we meet, and a person who does not communicate well will end up in misery, and the way to escape it, our theme today, is to learn to communicate.  Do you think I say that enough?
            Before him, we heard from Elle King from her album “Love Stuff,” and the name of the song “Ex’s and Oh’s” from 2016, and a song about self-confidence.  Self-confidence is necessary, but being over-confident can have the opposite effect, especially if you speak about it to others.  Such is the case here.  The lady in the song sings of strong confidence in her own abilities to have lovers.  “Well, I had me a boy, turned him into a man,” she sings.  “I showed him all the things that he didn't understand.  And then I let him go.  Now, there's one in California who's been cursing my name ‘cause I found me a better lover in the UK, until I made my getaway.  One, two, three, they gonna run back to me 'cause I'm the best baby that they never gotta keep.  They always wanna come, but they never wanna leave.  Ex's and the oh's, they haunt me like ghosts; they want me to love 'em all.  They won't let go.”  In terms of our theme this week, she doesn’t seem to have any misery yet, but this type of over confidence will lead to it, I believe.
            Let’s go to my favorite “rain” song.  It is a great song to study, a song that describes a bored individual who leads a life that is “pretty plain”.  The title is a little too realistic for this area of the country, to be sure.  Actually, the description of life being “pretty plain” for the man in the song is an understatement.  Not only is it “plain”; it is so boring that he “watches the puddles gather rain” and when it does not rain, he occupies his time by sleeping and complaining that there is no rain to gather into puddles.  No one pays any attention to him, they call him insane; he would do anything to escape the boredom.  “It rips my life away,” the group sings.  This person needs some help and probably will need some therapy in order to escape the misery in his life.  This is a group formed in the 90’s and have been off and on on the touring scene, the group Blind Melon from the top 10 of 1993, and “No Rain” on MATT.
(triple)       NO RAIN / Blind Melon
                               ROCKSTAR / Nickelback
                               6 CIRCLES / Post Malone
 
Part 9
            MATT presenting Austin Richard Post better known as Post Malone, from his album “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and his song “Circles”, number 6 this week.  It is a song about a break-up that has occurred.  “Seasons change,” he sings, “and our love went cold, feed the flame ‘cause we can’t let go.  Run away, but we’re running in circles.  Run away. I dare you to do something, I’m waiting on you again, so I don’t take the blame.  Let go, I got a feeling that it’s time to let go. I knew that this was doomed from the get-go.  You thought that it was special.  But it was just the sex though.  I got a feeling that it’s time to let it go.”  When physical relationships are the basis of a relationship, the chances are that we will miss what love is all about because we are taken up with the strong emotions of the physical.  And sometimes because of a lack of a strong foundation, the situation is an invitation to misery, our theme today, and one escapes it by keeping the relationship away from too much physical interaction.  
            Before him, we heard from the Canadian group Nickelback and a song about what we should want in life, their song “Rockstar” from 2005 from their album “All The Right Reasons”.  I’m rating it high in meaning because to me it is a great statement, using sarcasm to get the point across.  They seem to be making fun of the people who criticize rock stars with the standard lines, and then they exaggerate what the critics say to show how stupid it really is, with the conclusion that this is not the way rock stars are.  “I’m through with standing in line,” they sing, “to clubs we’ll never get in.  This life hasn’t turned out quite the way I want it to be.”  And they address the problem: “Tell me what you want.  I want a brand new house and a bathroom I can play baseball in.  I’ll need a credit card that’s got no limit and a big black jet with a bedroom in it.  So, how you gonna do it?  I’m gonna trade this life for fortune and fame ‘cause we all just wanna be big rockstars, and live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars.”  And they go on to describe in exaggeration what people think rock stars have.  They are singing about people who have a problem with jealousy and wanting too much of what others have.  Considering our theme today, that will only cause misery and the way to escape it is stop thinking the way he is.
            Our theme this morning is from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and their song “Rain on Me”.  That theme looks at the situation of the song, and says: how does one escape misery?  Our final segment this morning includes music from James Arthur and Lewis Capaldi.  Our quote this half-hour is from Mark Twain, so expect it to be sarcastic.  He was speaking about gratitude.  His take on gratitude and thankfulness is this: “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.  This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”  Whoa, tough words!  You’ve got MATT on your radio dial this morning, that dial reading 103.3 or as we say Mix 103.  Like Arnold, I will be back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 10
            My name is Fr. Mike, and I welcome you back to the show of today’s best music Mix 103 that is MATT.  We take the music of the top 10 songs of yesterday and today, and we study that music with their messages, and we often find that they tell us something good about ourselves.  Our theme this morning is the question: “How does one escape misery?”  It came from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and their song “Rain on Me”.
     Let’s go to number 8 in our top 10 which comes from Ms. Billie Eilish.  It is a really good song of appreciation for a brother.  She begins her song with committing suicide in a dream, and then no one caring except her brother Finneas.  She explained the song this way: “Pretty much the whole song is about me and Finneas’ relationship as siblings” she says.  “We started writing it because I literally had a dream that I killed myself and nobody cared and all of my best friends and people that I worked with basically came out in public and said, like, ‘Oh, we never liked her.’  In the dream, the fans didn’t care.  The internet got on me for killing myself, all this stuff, and it really did mess me up.  The message behind the song is like my brother is my best friend, and I have these dreams and these things happen, and no matter what happens, he’s gonna always be there for me, and it’s the same the other way around.”  As we pursue a theme of how to escape misery, certainly one way is to always work for family harmony, especially between brothers and sisters.  This is teenager Ms. Billie Eilish and her song “Everything I Wanted” on MATT.
 (triple)      8 EVERYTHING I WANTED / Billie Eilish
                   SAY YOU WON’T LET GO / James Arthur
                               7 BEFORE YOU GO / Lewis Capaldi
 
Part 11
            A song about what the man in the relationship should have done before he lost his friend, from his album “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”, number 7 from Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go” on MATT. “All I hear were the words I needed to say.  When you hurt under the surface like troubled water running cold, well, time can heal but this won’t.  So, before you go, was there something I could have said to make your heart beat better?  If only I’d had known you had a storm to weather.  So before you go, was there something I could have said to make it all stop hurting.”  That is a very good attitude I believe.  He is trying to figure out how he hurt her, hopefully so he wouldn’t do it again in another relationship.  It is a perfect way to behave and although sometimes a little difficult, it will help a future relationship.  In terms of our theme this week there is real misery when we lose love relationships, but maybe a way of escaping future miserable relationships is to do exactly what Lewis Capaldi suggests: what the economic industry calls “exit interviews”.  
            Before him, we heard from James Arthur who is a British singer/ songwriter and his soft love song from his album “Back from the Edge”, and the name of it “Say You Won’t Let Go”, number 3 of our songs of meaning of 2017.  “I knew I loved you,” the man in the relationship sings, “But you’d never know ‘cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go.  I knew I needed you but I never showed.  But I wanna stay with you until we’re grey and old.  Just say you won’t let go.  So I wrote this song for you.  Now everybody knows that it’s just you and me.  Just say you won’t let go.”  So a song of very strong commitment promising a life forever.  One of the helps to escape the misery, our theme today, is to honestly keep the strong commitment to a loved one.
            Our final “rain” song is up for us next.  The song is a statement of love to someone from a negative point of view.  He is singing that he loves her, and it will really show if they break up.  The video to the song depicts the same thing adding the possibility that they have already broken up.  “If you ever leave me,” the man in the relationship sings, “leave some morphine at my door ‘cause it would take a whole lot of medication to realize what we used to have.  There’s no religion that could save me no matter how long my knees are on the floor.  So keep in mind all the sacrifices I’m makin’ to keep you by my side, to keep you from walkin’ out the door.  ‘Cause there’ll be no sunlight if I lose you.  Every day, it’ll rain, rain, rain.”  In the song, the man talks about how he has made sacrifices for the relationship.  You wonder whether the person has to point that out, making sacrifices that is.  If you have to point it out, the chances are that there is some misery in their relationship and the way to escape it, our theme today, is probably to look for another relationship.  This is Peter Gene Hernandez or Bruno Mars from the album “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” and his song “It Will Rain” from 2014 on MATT.
(double)    IT WILL RAIN / Bruno Mars
                               3 SAY SO / Doja Cat
 
Part 12
            That was Ms. Doja Cat, from her album “Hot Pink”, her song, “Say So” moving into the top 3 at number 3 this week on MATT.  It is another song about communication.  It is a come-on to a friend saying to him to keep her in the moment, and all he had to do was “say so.”  “You got to keep me focused,” she sings, “Day to night to morning, keep me in the moment, I’d let you / had I known it, why don’t you say so?”  So, ultimately it is a song begging for one of the most common characteristics of a love relationship, namely, communication.  There is no doubt in my mind that lack of communication causes misery, and the way to escape it, our theme today, is to communicate a little better.  
          And the number 1 song is from The Weeknd again or Canadian singer Mr. Abel Makkonen Testfaye and his song is “Blinding Lights” from his album “After Hours”.  Altogether, it makes 6 weeks at number 1.  It is a song that says that the man in the relationship considers his girlfriend to be a blinding light and also the story of someone who made a mistake and let a relationship go, and he’s begging her to come back.  “I’ve been tryna call, I’ve been on my own for long enough.  Maybe you can show me how to love.  I’m going through withdrawals.  You don’t even have to do too much; you can turn me on with just a touch.  I said, I’m blinded by the lights, I can’t sleep until I feel your touch.  I will never let you go this time.”  You don’t know whether she came back or not, and it is a tough situation he is in.  In terms of our theme today, misery is possible if the relationship fails, and the way to escape it is to work on making sure the relationship does not fail.
            Our thoughts today have centered around that idea of escaping misery in our lives.  My prayer for you and me is that we will look for ways to escape the misery in our lives, perhaps even asking a Higher Power for help.  If you would like to get a hold of me, my e-mail address is: frmikescully@yahoo.com or the address at the radio station: KJLS-FM, Hays, KS 67601.  I invite you to my website at www.frmikescully.com where you will find meditations on these songs and some pretty good movies.  You can catch us on the web every Sunday morning at www.hayspost.com and clicking on Mix 103 at 10 CDT.  Thank you for being with us today.  My thanks to the producers of our show, who manage to understand me even when I make mistakes, and my thanks to our sponsors, especially Hays Car and Truck Alignment, Holy Family Elementary School in Hays, and Thomas More Prep-Marian Junior and Senior High School in Hays. 
            My closing thought for you comes from Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous: “Never tell your problems to anyone.  20 percent don’t care, and the other 80 percent are glad you have them.”  Now, that can lead to misery, but it really is not true: there are people who do care in your life.  As you listen to the number 1 song in our land from the The Weeknd and his song “Blinding Lights”, may I remind you to hold a good thought.  Have a great Independence Day coming up.  My name is Fr. Mike Scully.  Be safe, peace to you, and be good!
1 BLINDING LIGHTS / The Weeknd

June 21, 2020

"Dealing With Our Strong Feelings"

Part 1
            Hello Central Kansas and around the world!  Welcome to “Message at the Top” your top 10 show on today’s best music Mix 103, and I hope your second last Sunday of the beautiful month of June is a good one for you.  Happy harvest to those of you involved in that line of work.  And happy Summer since Summer began yesterday.  It is also Father’s Day, and so happy Father’s Day for those of you who qualify.  You have on your dial this morning a show that gives you the messages of the top 10 of today and yesterday, and, surprisingly enough, the songs enable us to see exactly what can help our lives be a bit better than they are already.  In fact, that is our intent: we invite you to enjoy the music, and to listen to the message so that your lives can indeed be a bit better than they are right now.  I’m your host, Fr. Mike Scully; thanks for being part of our show this morning.  We have music from today and the past 40 years all warmed up on our computers.  Today we will hear from a number of artists including Ariana Grande whose 27th birthday is on Friday, and George Michael who died a couple of years ago, and whose birthday would have been on Thursday.
            As mentioned, Ariana Grande Butera’s birthday is this week, and in her honor, let’s give her our lead song today.  She was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida.  It is a song about strong feelings.
            Feelings or emotions are very interesting.  We all have them—sometimes they are quite strong, and we show them by being very happy or pleased with what is happening in our lives.  They are special times, and times to be savored and dwelt on.  Sometimes, however, our feelings are full of pain, or hatred or disappointment or anger, what might be called negative feelings, and we don’t particularly like those feelings at all.  If we act on them, the chances are that we will hurt someone or hurt ourselves.
            Perhaps one of the things about feelings that we should concentrate on is that feelings are just that—feelings.  They may not even match the realities of life, but we are experiencing them—that is for sure.  And so, what must happen is that we control them a little.  We can’t allow them to be such a major force in our lives, and controlling them a little more, we can choose what we want our lives to be a little easier.
            Ariana Grande’s song here which she sings with Mac Miller, a 28 year old rapper from Pittsburgh, PA is a song about a love relationship with strong feelings as part of it, and one that both in the relationship feel will last.  “I love the way you make me feel,” she sings, and he sings, “I’m thinking ‘bout her every second, every hour.”  She continues, “You give me that kind of something, want it all the time, need it every day.  On a scale of one to ten, I’m at a hundred.  If you want it, I got it, I’ll never leave you.  I got a bad boy (which means a good boy, of course) I must admit it, you got my heart.  I love the way you make me feel.”  Sounds like they want the relationship to last forever, and for the most part, that’s just fine.  The point is that they are expressing very strong feelings and emotions, and they have to deal with them as best they can.
            That sounds like a pretty good theme for our show today—dealing with strong emotions and feelings.  Let’s see what the songs of our show suggest with regard to that topic.  To start us off, a double play from Ariana Grande, first of all from her debut album, “Daydreamin’”, here singing along with Mac Miller, and their song “The Way” from 2013 on MATT.
(double)    THE WAY / Ariana Grande f/ Mac Miller
                               NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY / Ariana Grande
 
Part 2
            Closing off a double play from Ariana Grande, this time from her album “Sweetener” that won a Grammy award, “No Tears Left to Cry” from 2018.  It is a really good song with a great message, I believe.  That message is that she has to change her way of behavior to something more positive.  “Right now,” she begins her song, “I’m in a state of mind I wanna be in like all the time.  Ain’t got no tears left to cry, so I’m pickin’ it up, I’m lovin’, I’m livin’, I’m pickin’ it up.  Oh, I just want you to come with me.  We’re on another mentality.”  She seems to have felt sorry for herself long enough, and now she is ready to move on.  Good attitude, I believe.  In terms of our theme today which she gave us, she has some strong feelings about the way she is feeling and it is good because it will probably lead her to some pretty good behavior.
            Our first triple play begins with the number 10 song which is new to our top 10 from artists Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande again and has quite a dance video.  Its meaning according to Lady Gaga has to do with tears that she is shedding because of a lost relationship.  The rain symbolizes drinking.  She wishes she wasn’t drinking, but she is still alive nonetheless.  “I didn’t ask for a free ride,” they sing, “I only asked you to show me a real good time.  I never asked for the rainfall; you showed me nothing at all.  It’s coming down on me, water like misery.  I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.  Living in a world where no one’s innocent.  Oh, but at least we try.  Gotta live my truth, not keep it bottled in so I don’t lose my mind.  Rain on me.”  In terms of our theme, there is strong emotion when a relationship does not work out, but as she says, you gotta live the truth—put up with the pain and rain.  From her album “Chromatica”, this is Stefani Joanne Angeline Germonotta, better known as Lady Gaga along with Ariana Grande, and “Rain on Me” at number 10 on MATT.
(triple)       10 RAIN ON ME / Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
                               CAN’T STOP THE FEELING /Justin Timberlake
                      6 EVERYTHING I WANTED / Billie Eilish
 
Part 3
            That was number 6, Billie Eilish and her song “Everything I Wanted” on MATT.  It is a really good song of appreciation for a brother.  She begins her song with committing suicide in a dream, and then no one caring except her brother Finneas.  She explained the song this way: “Pretty much the whole song is about me and Finneas’ relationship as siblings” she says.  “We started writing it because I literally had a dream that I killed myself and nobody cared and all of my best friends and people that I worked with basically came out in public and said, like, ‘Oh, we never liked her.’  In the dream, the fans didn’t care.  The internet got on me for killing myself, all this stuff, and it really did mess me up.  The message behind the song is like my brother is my best friend, and I have these dreams and these things happen, and no matter what happens, he’s gonna always be there for me, and it’s the same the other way around.”  As we pursue a theme of strong emotions, much of our interaction with family, especially with brothers and/or sisters is one fraught with strong emotions, and could destroy any good interaction that should be.
          Before her, we heard from Mr. Justin Timberlake, and a very popular song from a couple of years ago, 2016 to be exact, his song ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling”.  It is a song about good feelings, our theme today.  “I got this feeling inside my bones,” he sings; “It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on.  All through my city, all through my home, we're flying up, no ceiling, when we are in our zone.  I got that sunshine in my pocket, got that good song in my feet.  I can't take my eyes off it, moving so phenomenally.  You gonna like the way we rock it, so don't stop.  I can't stop the feeling, so just dance.”  So, a song about good feelings and in particular dancing with good feelings.  Good feelings and strong emotions, our theme today, are certainly part of the important things in life, and we should remember that even though there are more important things, I believe. 
            During our next segment, we will hear messages that continue the thought of working with our feelings from people like the duo Twenty One Pilots and Justin Bieber.  Before we get there, here’s a thought from author Everett M. Dirksen: “Life is not a static thing.  The only people who do not change their minds are incompetents in asylums who can't change, and those in cemeteries.”  We have to recognize the need to change in life and it will not always be what our strong feelings want.  “Message at the Top” will continue right after these important messages.  I’m Fr. Mike inviting you to keep that dial set at Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 4
            It is great to have you back with us.  Thank you for joining us this second last Sunday of June 2020 and happy Father’s Day to the fathers in our audience.  We welcome you back to the top 10 songs of our area as of the week ending today.  I am Fr. Mike, your host for the only top 10 show of Mix 103, “Message at the Top.”  Our format involves the top 10 songs of today and the top 10 songs of the past 40 years since 1980.  Our motto is to enjoy the music that we play, and to listen to the message because often the message really does help our lives.  Our theme today involves the idea of working with our feelings.  The thought came from birthday person on Friday Ariana Grande and her song which sings with Mac Miller, “The Way.”
            We go to a song that is all about a break-up that has occurred.  “Seasons change,” he sings, “and our love went cold, feed the flame ‘cause we can’t let go.  Run away, but we’re running in circles.  Run away. I dare you to do something, I’m waiting on you again, so I don’t take the blame.  Let go, I got a feeling that it’s time to let go. I knew that this was doomed from the get-go.  You thought that it was special.  But it was just the sex though.  I got a feeling that it’s time to let it go.”  When physical relationships are the basis of a relationship, the chances are that we will miss what love is all about because we are taken up with the strong emotions of the physical, our theme today.  MATT presenting Austin Richard Post better known as Post Malone, from his album “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and his song “Circles”, number 7 this week on MATT.
(double)    7 CIRCLES / Post Malone
                               WORDPLAY / Jason Mraz
 
Part 5
            MATT presenting Mr. Jason Mraz and a song from 2005, calling for an improvement in communication, that is, their speech, their wordplay, from his album “Mr. A-Z”, “Wordplay”.  It is one of the more unique songs that has been in the top 10.  It seems to be a statement about the way he writes his songs, and exactly how he feels as he brings a new song into the top 10.  “Well, let me introduce you to my style,” he sings: “I try to keep a jumble and the lyrics never mumble.  When the music’s makin’ people tongue-tied, you want a new song like a new religion, music for the television.  People write me off like I’m a one-hit wonder, gotta find another way to keep from going’ under.  Now listen closely to the verse I lay: it’s all about the wordplay.”  Tie all of that into our theme of “Dealing with Strong Emotions,” and you get this perhaps: words are always more important than feelings, but feelings often dictate the words that we say—think about that!
            Justin Bieber has another song in the top 5, a song about giving compliments and it has an inspiring video connected with it.  “Picture perfect,” Justin Bieber begins the song, “you don’t need no filter, gorgeous, make ‘em drop dead, you a killer.  Shower you with all my attention--these are my only intentions.  Shout out to your Mom and Dad for making you, standing ovation, they did a great job raising you.  When I create, you’re my muse, that kind of smile that makes the news.  Can’t nobody throw shade on your name in these streets.  You make it easy to choose, you got a mean touch I can’t refuse.”  Giving compliments to our love friends is such a great idea and sometimes strong emotions, our theme today, with the other may block my ability to give the compliments.  MATT presenting here Canadian singer Justin Bieber and rapper Quavious Keyate Marshall better known as Quavo from Justin Bieber’s album “Changes” and their song “Intentions”, number 3 this week on MATT. 
(triple)     3 INTENTIONS / Justin Bieber f/ Quavo
                               STRESSED OUT / Twenty One Pilots
                               THESE ARE THE DAYS / 10,000 Manics
 
Part 6
            That group is 10,000 Maniacs, and their song “These Are The Days” on MATT.  The group was formed in the early 80’s, the most famous of which was Natalie Merchant, and according to Wikipedia are still on the music scene, “These are the days that you might fill with laughter until you break.  And when you do, you’ll know how it was meant to be, see the signs and know their meaning.  It’s true, you’ll know how it was meant to be.  Hear the signs and know they’re speaking to you.”  They are singing of happy days and days to remember and are part of our strong feelings, our theme today.  We all have them, and we should celebrate them when we do, and not allow the bad feelings that we also have to make us feel so badly.
            Before them, we heard from the duo Twenty One Pilots and their song “Stressed Out,” a former number 1 from their album “Blurryface” from 2015.  It is a song about getting over the past and concentrating on the present and future.  “I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink,” they sing, “but now I'm insecure and I care what people think.  My name's 'Blurryface' and I care what you think.  Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days when our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out.  Out of student loans and treehouse homes, we all would take the latter.  Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face, saying, ‘Wake up, you need to make money.’”  In terms of our theme this week, it is a pretty strong feeling, our theme today, when we finally wake up and realize that we must be mature, and we have to face the fact, and get on with life.  We can’t be kids all our lives.  
            We will continue with the thought generated by Ariana Grande and Mac Miller and their song “The Way” as we listen to and study top 10 music of the past and present from—coming up in order of appearance: Lewis Capaldi, Capital Cities, George Michael, Doja Cat, Gwen Stefani and the group Hanson.  To close of our first hour today, here is a thought from Marcus Aurelius, about 2000 years ago concerning life: “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.  The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”  Now think about that—an untroubled spirit and knowing things for what they are.  Those two thoughts are really important and should generate good strong feelings the closer we are to achieving them.  That man knew what he was talking about / even back then.  I’m Fr. Mike for “Message at the Top” on Mix 103.  Hey, why not stay right where you are.  We’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 7
            Thank you for joining us this morning.  We are back for the second hour of “Message at the Top” which gives you the top 10 rock songs of our area as of this week ending today June 21, 2020, Father’s Day this year.  We take the top 10’s of today and the past 40 years, put them all together with a theme, and then call our show MATT.  Our theme this week came from birthday person on Friday Ariana Grande along with Mac Miller and their song “The Way”, that theme being “Dealing with Strong Feelings”.  I’m your host, Fr. Mike on “Message at the Top”.
            Our second hour together begins with a song about looking back at a relationship.  It was our theme last week when we spoke about just that--looking back at relationships and what we learn.  It is also a song about what the man in the relationship should have done before he lost his friend: “All I hear were the words I needed to say.  When you hurt under the surface like troubled water running cold, well, time can heal but this won’t.  So, before you go, was there something I could have said to make your heart beat better?  If only I’d had known you had a storm to weather.  So before you go, was there something I could have said to make it all stop hurting.”  That is a very good attitude I believe.  He is trying to figure out how he hurt her, hopefully so he wouldn’t do it again in another relationship.  It is a perfect way to behave and although sometimes a little difficult, it will help a future relationship.  In terms of our theme this week there are strong emotions as one leaves a relationship, and if we want to learn anything, we have control those emotions to find out how we behaved, well or not so well.  This is from his album “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”, number 8 from Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go” on MATT.
(triple)       8 BEFORE YOU GO / Lewis Capaldi
                   SAFE AND SOUND/ Capital Cities
                               FATHER FIGURE / George Michael
 
Part 8
            He would have been 56 on Thursday, British artist George Michael who died in 2016.  His song is called “Father Figure” from the year 1987 from his “Faith” album, and talks of being a father figure to the one he loves: “I will be your father figure; put your tiny hand in mine.  I will be your preacher, teacher, anything you have in mind.  I will be your father figure; I have had enough of crime; I will be the one who loves you until the end of time.”  This is all said because as he sings: “Sometimes I think that you’ll never understand me.”  It sounds almost like he is begging her to love him—which happens a lot, I believe.  As we tie that into our theme that is “Dealing with Strong Emotions,” begging someone to love us is a pretty strong emotion and will usually end in pain.
            Before him, MATT presented the duo Capital Cities from their first album called “In a Tidal Wave of Mystery,” and their song “Safe and Sound.”  They are a music duo formed in Los Angeles in 2009 in the persons of Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian.  The song is a song of what the man in a relationship could do to the woman if she allowed it.  “I could lift you up,” they sing, “I could show you what you wanna be.  You could be my luck, even if the sky is falling down, I know that we’ll be safe and sound.  I could fill your cup.  You could be my luck, even in a hurricane of frowns, I know that we’ll be safe and sound.  I could show you love; in a tidal wave of mystery, you’ll still be standing next to me.”  The man wants the lady to respond, and you don’t know what she will do.  But he is being very hopeful in his approach to her, and in terms of our theme, being hopeful is a great feeling to have, and usually it is a strong emotion and we must always be prepared to accept whatever the consequence of our actions may be.
            Yet another triple play is ready to come out of your listening device right now and it begins with a song about the lady who calls herself Doja Cat.  It is another song about communication.  It is a come-on to a friend saying to him to keep her in the moment, and all he had to do was “say so.”  “You got to keep me focused,” she sings, “Day to night to morning, keep me in the moment, I’d let you / had I known it, why don’t you say so?”  So, ultimately it is a song begging for one of the most common characteristics of a love relationship, namely, communication.  And once again we say—do not let strong emotions, our theme today, block good communication.  This is Ms. Doja Cat, from her album “Hot Pink”, her song, “Say So” at number 5 this week on MATT. 
(triple)       5 SAY SO / Doja Cat
                               RICH GIRL / Gwen Stefani f/ Eve
                               THINKIN’ ‘BOUT SOMETHIN’ / Hanson
 
Part 9
            I really like the sound and video of that song, from the group Hanson from the year 2010, “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’” on MATT.  “Well, I gave you love,” they begin their song, “you know it.  So when did you outgrow it, and decide that you would find another man?  I’ve been thinking ‘bout somethin’ other than you.  Well, I’ve run out of patience for this sticky situation.  You won’t find me crying that we’re through.  It’s sad to say, but everyday I’ve been thinking ‘bout somethin’ other than you.”  The man in the relationship is pretty well fed up with the relationship, and basically is telling her to get lost.  So, a message that is pretty negative.  In terms of our theme, he is speaking with deep emotion, and he has to watch that he doesn’t let his emotions take over his life. 
            Before them, we heard from Gwen Stefani, singing with Eve Jihan Jeffers Cooper better known simply as Eve, and their song “Rich Girl,” inspired by the music of “Fiddler On The Roof” from the year 2004.  “If I was a rich girl,” they begin the song.  “See, I’d have all the money in the world.  If I was a wealthy girl, no man could test me, impress me; my cash flow would never ever end ‘cause I’d have all the money in the world if I was a wealthy girl”.  But she sings, “All the riches baby, won’t mean anything; all the riches won’t bring what your love can bring.  Don’t need no other baby.  Your lovin’ is better than gold, and I know.”  That’s a great message, of course—that love is better than money.  In terms of our theme, it is a good question for a person in love to determine whether the stronger feelings are connected with love or with money, and what she/he considers more important.
            And we have played our way to another brief hiatus.  Our final segment will begin in just a few minutes when we will present numbers 1, 2, 4 and 9 along with Sheryl Crow and Camila Cabello.  Before we go to break, may I quote Thomas Merton, a Catholic mystic: “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image.  Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”  Let me say that again.  Great insight there.  Don’t go way.  I’m Fr. Mike, and this is the “Message at the Top” music network.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 10
            Hi again, everybody.  I am Fr. Mike and this is “Message at the Top” on Mix 103, your top 10 show giving you not only the current top 10 but the top 10 of the 2000’s, 90’s and even 80’s as well.  During our show, our plea to you is to enjoy the music and at the same time listen to the message of the songs so that perhaps the message can help you in your life right now.  Our theme this morning is the thought of what strong feelings we have and what we should do with them.  That theme came from Ariana Grande and Mac Miller.
            Our final half-hour together begins with the number 2 song right now from Ms. Dua Lipa from her future album “Future Nostalgia,” and her song “Don’t Start Now”.  “Did a full one eighty,” she sings here.  “Crazy, thinking about the way I was.  Did the heartbreak change me?  Maybe, but look at where I ended up.  I'm all good already, so moved on.  It's scary: I'm not where you left me at all.  So if you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody, if you wanna believe that anything could stop me, don't show up, don't come out, don't start caring about me now.”  Her intention in the song is to get across to her ex-boyfriend that she is doing perfectly well without him.  In terms of our theme, it seems that she is speaking with strong emotion, and the chances are that she will not learn anything about herself from the relationship because she may be too wrapped up in anger.  Ms. Dua Lipa here, number 2, “Don’t Start Now” on MATT.
(triple)       2 DON’T START NOW / Dua Lipa
                   SOAK UP THE SUN / Sheryl Crow
                               4 ADORE YOU / Harry Styles
 
Part 11
            That was Harry Styles a British singer/songwriter, and former member of the band One Direction and the song is from his album “Fine Line,” his song “Adore You” and it is at number 4 on MATT.  It is a story in song of being totally taken by another.  “Walk in your rainbow paradise,” he sings, “strawberry lipstick state of mind.  I get so lost inside your eyes.  Would you believe it?  You don’t have to say you love me, you don’t have to say nothing.  You don’t have to say you’re mine.  Honey, I’d walk through fire for you.  Just let me adore you.”  He sings that being so taken by another means that he doesn’t even have to communicate with her.  And as I have said, to my mind, that is not correct at all, and one of the most important things to learn in life is to learn to communicate with everyone we meet, and one of the problems of strong emotions, our theme today, is that those emotions could block communication.
            Before him, MATT presented Ms. Sheryl Crow from her album “C’mon, C’mon” the number 1 song of meaning of 2002, “Soak Up the Sun”.  She begins the song: “My friend the communist holds meetings in his RV.  I can’t afford his gas, so I’m stuck here watching TV.  I don’t have digital, I don’t have diddley squat.  It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.  I’m gonna soak up the sun, I’m gonna tell everyone to lighten up.  I’m gonna tell them that I’ve got no one to blame; for every time I feel lame, I’m lookin’ up.”  Now that is one great attitude, and what makes it more difficult is that her boyfriend doesn’t seem to have it—maybe something’s wrong with you, she says.  The song says simply: adopt a positive attitude in life, and if we manage to do that, it will be a pretty strong feeling which we will have every moment of our lives, strong feelings being our theme today.
            We have Camila Cabello right now.  It is song of having more pleasure in a relationship.  “They say he likes a good time,” she sings, “He comes alive at midnight, my mama doesn’t trust him.  He’s only here for one thing, but so am I.  Yeah, a little older, a bad reputation; he was onto me.  I swear on my life that I’ve been a good girl.  Tonight I don’t want to be her.”  Like I say, she is probably looking for more pleasure.  At least, that seems to be their intention as they are together.  When a relationship is built on strong emotions, our theme today that is one built on physical pleasure, the chances are pretty strong that people will not be able to discover real love.  From her album “Romance,” Camila Cabello and Jonathan Lyndale Kirk better known as DaBaby, and their song “My Oh My” at number 9 this week on MATT. 
(double)    9 MY OH MY / Camila Cabello f/ DaBaby
                               NEVER BE THE SAME / Camila Cabello
 
Part 12
            Closing off a double play from her, MATT presenting Camila Cabello, and her song this time “Never Be the Same,” from her album “Camila” from 2017.  It is a song of total infatuation with a boyfriend.  “Something must’ve gone wrong in my brain,” she sings, “Got your chemical all in my veins, feeling all the highs, feeling all the pain.  Now I’m seeing red, not thinking straight, blurring all the lines, you intoxicate me, just like nicotine, heroin, morphine.  Suddenly, I’m a fiend and you’re all I need.  Just one hit of you.  I’ll never be the same.”  The lady in the relationship is overwhelmed with her feeling of the man, and therefore very strong emotions, our theme today.  It sounds as though she will have to put those strong emotions aside and see whether she really loves the guy or not.
          And the new number 1 song is an old number 1 song from The Weeknd or Canadian singer Mr. Abel Makkonen Testfaye and his song is “Blinding Lights” from his album “After Hours”.  Altogether, it makes 5 weeks at number 1.  It is a song that says that the man in the relationship considers his girlfriend to be a blinding light and also the story of someone who made a mistake and let a relationship go, and he’s begging her to come back.  “I’ve been tryna call, I’ve been on my own for long enough.  Maybe you can show me how to love.  I’m going through withdrawals.  You don’t even have to do too much; you can turn me on with just a touch.  I said, I’m blinded by the lights, I can’t sleep until I feel your touch.  I will never let you go this time.”  You don’t know whether she came back or not, and it is a tough situation he is in.  In terms of our theme today, if his emotions are super strong which they seem to be, if she does not come back, he is going to have a very difficult time.
            We have talked about that thought of working with strong feelings today.  It came from birthday person Ariana Grande and Mac Miller and their song “The Way.”  My prayer for you and me is that every one of us will try to understand the feelings that we have, especially the stronger ones, and to control them as we seek maturity.  My thanks to our producers here in the studio and of course to all of you for being here.  A special thanks to our sponsors some of whom are Hays Car and Truck Alignment, Holy Family Elementary School and Thomas More Prep-Marian Junior and Senior High School.  If you want to talk to me for any reason whatsoever, my email address is frmikescully@yahoo.com.  The address right here is KJLS-FM, Hays, KS 67601.  I invite you to look at my website www.frmikescully.com where you will find a transcript of the show and some meditations on these songs and some really good movies.  You can get us on the web every Sunday morning at www.hayspost.com and clicking on Mix 103 at 10 CDT.  One final thought before we go.  It comes from a friend of mine who probably got it from someone else, but a good one that I will give to you: “People are less likely to sink your boat if they’re in it with you.”  That is, work on being friends with people and knowing how they feel—it is a way of becoming stronger.  As we listen to the new old number 1 song from The Weekend, may I wish peace to you, stay safe, and be good!
1 BLINDING LIGHTS / The Weeknd

June 14, 2020
"Looking Back, What We Should Have Done"

 

Part 1
            Hello Central Kansas and around the world!  Happy Summer to all of you which begins this Saturday; welcome to Mix 103’s unique top 10 show, “Message at the Top”.  I am Fr. Mike Scully.  This program at Mix 103 continues to give you only the very best in radio entertainment, / by including not only the popular songs of today and yesterday, but we also seek to find meaning within them, meaning that can inspire and challenge each of our lives.  Our motto throughout the show is to enjoy the music and listen to the message so that the message can help us live a little better.  As usual, we have music from the present and the past all warmed up on these fancy computers, and we are all set to bring them to you.  Last week the number 1 song was from The Weeknd.  We’ll see if he stays there.
            Lewis Marc Capaldi is a 23 year-old Scottish singer who has been nominated and actually won some awards with his last song which we will play as part of this double play.  His latest song is one with a really good message worth talking about.
            That message has to do with what is called in the business world “an exit interview” for a relationship.  The concept of an exit interview is this: asking the person who is leaving about the job they are leaving and their feelings.  It is a good way to get honest feedback from employees about their role, but the real benefit of running an exit survey is ultimately to reduce unwanted employee attrition.  A well-designed exit survey will allow you to understand the reasons people leave and allow you to identify changes that can be made to stop great employees from leaving.
            Well, Lewis Capaldi’s song here is a song about what the man in the relationship should have done before he lost his friend: “All I hear were the words I needed to say.  When you hurt under the surface like troubled water running cold, well, time can heal but this won’t.  So, before you go, was there something I could have said to make your heart beat better?  If only I’d had known you had a storm to weather.  So before you go, was there something I could have said to make it all stop hurting.”  That is a very good attitude I believe.  He is trying to figure out how he hurt her, hopefully so he wouldn’t do it again in another relationship.  It is a perfect way to behave and although sometimes a little difficult, it will help a future relationship.
            So, let’s call our show “Looking Back, What Should We Have Done” and ask each of the songs the question about the thought of what would have made a past relationship a little better.  This is from his album “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”, number 9 from Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go” on MATT.
(double)     9 BEFORE YOU GO / Lewis Capaldi
                               SOMEONE YOU LOVED / Lewis Capaldi
 
Part 2
            Closing off a double play from him, both of his songs that have reached the top 10, Mr. Lewis Capaldi and his song again from his album with the ominous title of “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”, and “Someone You Loved” on MATT.  “I'm going under,” he sings the thoughts of the man in the relationship, “and this time I fear there's no one to save me. This all or nothing really got a way of driving me crazy. I need somebody to heal, somebody to know, somebody to have, somebody to hold. I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain. Now the day bleeds into nightfall. And you're not here to get me through it all. I let my guard down and then you pulled the rug. I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved.”  Breakups are very difficult, as you can sense from his pain in the song and we must be very careful about what we do and say after we suffer through them.  In terms of the theme from his latest song, the person in the song should have realized the importance of the relationship he had, and he simply did not do that.
            Josh Dun’s birthday is coming up.  He is one of the duo of Twenty One Pilots and will be 32 years old on Thursday.  The song talks of life—that is, trying to live it as best we can, but life is difficult at times.  The person in the song is enjoying the ride, taking his/her time living, but it often feels like he/she is falling, that is without direction.  During the life, the person thinks about what it means to be a friend of someone, whether he/she would die for the other or not.  Then it seems the person in the song feels like he/she is thinking too much, saying “Help me” either to a friend or perhaps even to God.  It is a very interesting song, and one that you can spend a lot of time analyzing along with the video.  In terms of our theme, the person is trying to face reality, but he is in pain and he/she finds himself / herself looking for help.  As he thinks back about what he should have done, our theme today, probably he should have sought someone out to give him the help that he needed.  This is from their album “Blurryface”, Twenty One Pilots, and their song “Ride” from the year 2015 on MATT. 
(triple)       RIDE / Twenty-One Pilots
                               REALIZE / Colbie Caillat
                      2 BLINDING LIGHTS / The Weeknd
 
Part 3
          MATT has a new number 1 song because that song is now at number 2 from The Weeknd or Canadian singer Mr. Abel Makkonen Testfaye and his song is “Blinding Lights” from his album “After Hours”.  It is a song that says that the man in the relationship considers his girlfriend to be a blinding light and also the story of someone who made a mistake and let a relationship go, and he’s begging her to come back.  “I’ve been tryna call, I’ve been on my own for long enough.  Maybe you can show me how to love.  I’m going through withdrawals.  You don’t even have to do too much; you can turn me on with just a touch.  I said, I’m blinded by the lights, I can’t sleep until I feel your touch.  I will never let you go this time.”  You don’t know whether she came back or not, and it is a tough situation he is in.  In terms of our theme today, he is looking back at a relationship, and he has discovered what he should have done.
            Before him, we heard the number 3 song of all the songs of meaning of 2008, a song of high meaning because it is a song of understanding why the relationship between the couple is good for both of them, Colbie Caillat from her album “Coco”, and her song “Realize”.  “Take time to realize,” she begins her song, “that I am on your side.  If you just realize what I just realized, then we’d be perfect for each other, and will never find another, we’d never have to wonder if we missed out on each other now.  If you meet me half way, it could be the same for you.”  It is a pleasant love song in my opinion with a happy ending, as one judges that both of them will finally realize that they were meant for each other, as the video concludes.  The word I concentrated on with the song over the years is the word “realize.”  To me, it is one of the most important words in any relationship and in any leadership experience.  And, in light of our theme today, a person who is looking back a relationship should see that one of the things she/he should have done was realize how important the other person in the relationship was.
            We will continue our presentation of songs from the top 10 from today and yesterday after these messages.  Get ready for music from number 4 and 5 on our top 10, as well as music from a birthday person this week—Ms. Paula Abdul. We also will hear from the group Sixpence None the Richer and Ingrid Michelson.  May I take you to break with a thought from Bobby Layne, once upon a time NFL quarterback—I love this because it an immensely positive statement.  He had lost a game, and the media was on him calling it his fault.  His response: “I never lost a game.  I just ran out of time.”  Right on, Bobby.  Time is one of the things we need to take in the present so that our future will be better.  Your dial is set for “Message at the Top”; may I implore you to keep it there.  As MacArthur, we will return!
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 4
            Hi, everyone.  You are in tune with “Message at the Top,” your top 10 show that plays songs from the top 10, but also great songs of meaning from past top 10’s as well.  Welcome back to the songs that make us think—truly think.  We take the top 10 of the past 40 years, study their messages, and then call our show MATT.  Happy Summer this week to all of you.  Our plea to you is to enjoy the music, and listen to the message.  I’m your host, Fr. Mike.  It’s great to have you here.  We’re concentrating on a theme from a song from Lewis Capaldi and the question “Looking Back, What Should We Have Done?”
            This double play begins with a song that goes back a couple of years to Ingrid Michaelson to the year 2006.  It is a love song with the principal idea of accepting one the way one is, and not wanting to make him/her into a different person.  “If you were falling,” she sings, “then I would catch you; if you need a light, I’d find a match, ‘cause I love the way you say ‘good morning,’ and you take me the way I am.”  It is a very good principle in life: you allow people to be the way they are, and do not try to change them.  Unfortunately, a lot of people try another way, that of, trying to change them the way they want to change them.  It is extremely harmful to love relationships, but a lot of people fall into it.  With our theme today, looking back at relationships, if we fall into that thought of trying to change others, we see that that is not what should have been.  MATT presenting here Ingrid Michaelson, from her album “Girls and Boys,” and her song, one of the songs featured on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Way I Am” at one time on MATT.
(double)    THE WAY I AM / Ingrid Michelson
                               4 ADORE YOU / Harry Styles
 
Part 5
            That was Harry Styles a British singer/songwriter, and former member of the band One Direction and the song is from his album “Fine Line,” his song “Adore You” and it is at number 4 on MATT.  It is a story in song of being totally taken by another.  “Walk in your rainbow paradise,” he sings, “strawberry lipstick state of mind.  I get so lost inside your eyes.  Would you believe it?  You don’t have to say you love me, you don’t have to say nothing.  You don’t have to say you’re mine.  Honey, I’d walk through fire for you.  Just let me adore you.”  He sings that being so taken by another means that he doesn’t even have to communicate with her.  And as I have said, to my mind, that is not correct at all, and one of the most important things to learn in life is to learn to communicate with everyone we meet, and as we study past relationships, our theme today, one of the things that we will say to ourselves probably will be that I should have communicated a little better than I did.
            Let’s wish happy birthday to Paula Abdul right now.  She will be 58 on Friday.  It is a song speaking directly about speaking directly and things that need to be said.  “I’ve been a fool before,” she sings, “Wouldn’t like to get my love caught in the slammin’ door.  How about some information, please.  Straight up now, tell me, do you really want to love me forever, or am I caught in a hit and run.”  As I say, direct talk.  As you know, as I just said, communication is one of our favorite topics here on MATT because it is so important in the present and in the future, and looking back at something, the chances are that we could have communicated a little better than we did.  Paula Abdul, from her album “Forever Your Girl”, the name of her song being “Straight Up” on MATT.
(triple)     STRAIGHT UP / Paula Abdul
                               THERE SHE GOES / Sixpence None the Richer
                               5 SAY SO / Doja Cat
 
Part 6
            Another song about communication, that was Ms. Doja Cat, from her album “Hot Pink”, her song, “Say So” at number 5 this week on MATT.  It is a come-on to a friend saying to him to keep her in the moment, and all he had to do was “say so.”  “You got to keep me focused,” she sings, “Day to night to morning, keep me in the moment, I’d let you / had I known it, why don’t you say so?”  So, ultimately it is a song begging for one of the most common characteristics of a love relationship, namely, communication.  And once again we say—as we look back at relationships, our theme today, the one thing that we should have done, no doubt, is to have communicated a little better. 
            Before her, we heard from the group Sixpence None The Richer and their song “There She Goes” from 1999.  According to Wikipedia, they are still around.  “There she goes again,” the group sings about the lady in the relationship, “racing through my brain, and I just can’t contain this feeling that remains.”  The song is open to interpretation, one negative, the other positive.  My first thought takes a negative spin: the woman is everywhere and therefore nowhere in the relationship.  She moves in and out and all about.  The mistake, I believe would be for someone to place all their hope and feelings in such an “un-rooted” person.  The more positive viewpoint might be this: she does have the power to heal the pain and get inside the person’s brain and truly create an energy for living, and emotions that are full of excitement.  Whichever, the lady seems to be strong enough to help the person in the song, and as one looks back on a relationship with her, our theme today, a person probably should study what kind of a person she was.
            Always great stuff to think about here, and we have great stuff to go yet.  The title of MATT today is “Looking back, what we should have done.”  Lewis Capaldi gave us the idea with his song “Before You Go”.  Our next 60 minutes of music and message will explore that theme with great top 10 music from Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Camila Cabello.  Here to lead you to break is a thought from Shelley Winters: she was correcting someone who had the courage to speak their mind and call her “a little overweight,” she said: “I’m not overweight, I’m just nine inches too short.”  The truth is always important and we must spend time on always trying to find it.  Yes, indeed.  I’m Fr. Mike for “Message at the Top”.  Don’t even think about touching that dial!
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 7
            We are back, as we celebrate another Sunday of June with you, in fact almost summer which begins Saturday.  Happy Summer almost, everyone.  I hope today is a good one for you.  This is “Message at the Top”.  I’m Fr. Mike, ready to lead you through the second hour of our show today, playing and speaking about all of our songs working on a theme which takes the songs’ meanings, and ties them into the thought of things that we should have done in relationships.  Thanks for joining us this morning.
            Let’s begin this second hour with a song about people who do not believe in any control of their actions it would seem, and I think they make some fundamental mistakes.  It is song of having more pleasure in a relationship.  “They say he likes a good time,” she sings, “He comes alive at midnight, my mama doesn’t trust him.  He’s only here for one thing, but so am I.  Yeah, a little older, a bad reputation; he was onto me.  I swear on my life that I’ve been a good girl.  Tonight I don’t want to be her.”  Like I say, she is probably looking for more pleasure.  At least, that seems to be their intention as they are together.  When a relationship is built on feelings, and one studies it after it is over, our theme today, the chances are pretty strong that people will discover some things that ended up hurting a relationship because it did not go any further than a physical feeling.  From her album “Romance,” Camila Cabello and Jonathan Lyndale Kirk better known as DaBaby, and their song “My Oh My” at number 8 this week on MATT. 
(triple)       8 MY OH MY / Camila Cabello f/ DaBaby
                   RAISE YOUR GLASS / Pink
                               3 INTENTIONS / Justin Bieber f/ Quavo
 
Part 8
            MATT presenting there Canadian singer Justin Bieber and rapper Quavious Keyate Marshall better known as Quavo from Justin Bieber’s album “Changes” and their song “Intentions”, moving up to number 3 this week.  It is a song of giving compliments and has an inspiring video connected with it.  “Picture perfect,” Justin Bieber begins the song, “you don’t need no filter, gorgeous, make ‘em drop dead, you a killer.  Shower you with all my attention--these are my only intentions.  Shout out to your Mom and Dad for making you, standing ovation, they did a great job raising you.  When I create, you’re my muse, that kind of smile that makes the news.  Can’t nobody throw shade on your name in these streets.  You make it easy to choose, you got a mean touch I can’t refuse.”  Giving compliments to our love friends is such a great idea and our theme today, if we have finished a relationship, looking back on it, we should be able to remember times when we complimented our partner.
            Before them, we heard from a lady who has sold over 47 million albums worldwide, including 16 million albums in the United States.  It was a party song of the first order from 2010, from her album “Greatest Hits…So Far,” and “Raise Your Glass”, Ms. Pink or her real name Alecia Beth Moore Hart.  Even though the person in the song asks the question "Why so serious?" she is asking the question with the idea that we should not be so serious.  "Turn off the lights," she sings, "we're gonna lose our minds tonight.  What's the deal?  I love when it's all too much.  Turn the radio up, where's the rock 'n roll?  Why so serious?  Raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways, all my underdogs.  We will never be anything but loud and nitty-gritty dirty little freaks.  Won’t you come on and raise your glass.  What part of a party don’t you understand?  It’s so on right now."  Her message is to party hardy, and as I have mentioned on this show, we really do have to learn to relax in our lives, but we also must learn to be serious so that when we look back at our behavior, we should be able to list a whole bunch of serious things that we did, our theme today.
            Wednesday is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth’s birthday when he will be 33 years old.  Here he sings the rap part to Robin Thicke.  If we ignore the sexual overtones, their song is all about giving.  It is a song of two people giving completely to one another, and that is why I say that it is the song of married people because for me—and I may be biased—completely giving only makes sense when the two people involved are totally committed forever, and in our society that is called marriage.  “Girl, give it to me,” they sing, “I got a gift for ya, I know you wanna get fancy, I know you wanna start dancin’.  I wanna give it to you tonight, and make everything you fantasize come true.  I’ll make you so amazing, I’ll give it to you.”  I said that if you ignore the sexual overtones, one can pay attention to the giving that they are singing about.  The problem is in our society that we do not overlook the sexual overtones, and we miss the deeper meaning.  Giving is essential to love and marriage, and it is something that we cannot dismiss as something that you just show in a physical way when we want to feel good.  And in terms of our theme, when people look back on a relationship, the thing that many of them should have done, our theme today, was to give a little more to the other than physical presence.  This is from his album “Blurred Lines”, Robin Thicke singing along side of birthday person Kendrick Lamar and their song “Give It 2 U” from 2013 on MATT.
(triple)       GIVE IT 2 U / Robin Thicke f/ Kendrick Lamar
                               THEN THE MORNING COMES / Smash Mouth
                   7 CIRCLES / Post Malone
 
Part 9
            MATT presenting Austin Richard Post better known as Post Malone, from his album “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and his song “Circles”, number 7 this week.  It is a song about a break-up that has occurred.  “Seasons change,” he sings, “and our love went cold, feed the flame ‘cause we can’t let go.  Run away, but we’re running in circles.  Run away. I dare you to do something, I’m waiting on you again, so I don’t take the blame.  Let go, I got a feeling that it’s time to let go. I knew that this was doomed from the get-go.  You thought that it was special.  But it was just the sex though.  I got a feeling that it’s time to let it go.”  When physical relationships are the basis of a relationship, those relationships will cease at some time because they deal mainly with feelings.  And, thinking back on relationships, what we should have done, our theme today, is probably pay more attention to the other person as a person and not a thing.
            Before him, we heard the thoughts of the group Smash Mouth in their song “Then the Morning Comes” from their album “Astro Lounge” from 1999.  The group sings of the people of the world who paint the town and thank anyone who gives them what they want, who act like “every single day is just a fling,” who shake off the feelings of impending doom and “push rewind just in time.”  But like it or not, they sing, “the world’s a craze, the world’s a phase, and the end is near ...  Tomorrow’s gonna hurt.” / The group Smash Mouth may be expressing words of warning to a complacent world.  It seems that society simply goes about its business day after day, working, entertaining, enjoying itself, without addressing the truly important things in life.  In particular, people do not seem to think of the need that we all have to prepare for death. / Of course, the end of our lives here on earth is not a topic that people in general enjoy, but it is inevitable and therefore must be considered. / Smash Mouth ends their song with the title, “Then the morning comes” as if to say the end has come.  Considering our theme today, at the end we will look back at our lives, and the question: are we okay with the way we have lived?  Good song.
            Our theme this almost Summer morning has come from Lewis Capaldi and his song “Before You Go” and the theme “Looking back, what we should have done.”  We’ll see how the songs of our final segment fit into that theme, as we have music lined up for you from numbers 9, 6 and 1 and music also from birthday person Cyndi Lauper, Shawn Mendes and Macklemore.  Taking us to a little break, here is a statement from Mr. Winston Churchill: “I am ready to meet my maker, but whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”  You bet—it would have been interesting to hear the conversation between Churchill and his maker.  Did he spend some time thinking about that?  Do we spend time thinking about that?  Good question.  You’ve got Mix 103 on your radio dial right now.  Please keep it there—we’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 10
            Every song has a message, and much of the time that message can help us live a little better.  Such is our belief on this show which we call MATT.  Happy almost first day of Summer to all of you.  We welcome you back to the only show that gives you the music and meaning of the top 10 rock songs of today and yesterday.  My name is Fr. Mike, and we are studying the songs of our show today in light of Lewis Capaldi’s song “Before You Go” and the theme we are using is “Looking back, what we should have done.”
            Let’s go back to our triple plays and begin this one with a birthday wish to Cyndi Lauper who will be 67 years old next week.  Here she sings a song that is not unlike the words of many teenagers to their parents.  The mother of the person in the song says “when are you gonna live your life right?”  Her response: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”—the name of her song.  Her father calls in the middle of the night, no doubt to a party she is attending, and says “what are you gonna do with your life.”  Her response “Girls just want to have fun.”  We have gone on record / on this show of talking of the importance of having fun—no problem with that.  Our problem has revolved around having too much fun, which may be the case there.  It fits into our theme this way: looking back at the young years in her life, the person in the song just might say that what she should have done is have fun, but maybe a little more seriousness would be called for.  From her album “She’s So Unusual,” Ms. Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, from 1983, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” on MATT.
(triple)       GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN / Cyndi Lauper
                   THERE’S NOTHING HOLDING ME BACK / Shawn Mendes
                               6 EVERYTHING I WANTED / Billie Eilish
 
Part 11
            That was number 6, Billie Eilish and her song “Everything I Wanted” on MATT.  It is a really good song of appreciation for a brother.  She begins her song with committing suicide in a dream, and then no one caring except her brother Finneas.  She explained the song this way: “Pretty much the whole song is about me and Finneas’ relationship as siblings” she says.  “We started writing it because I literally had a dream that I killed myself and nobody cared and all of my best friends and people that I worked with basically came out in public and said, like, ‘Oh, we never liked her.’  In the dream, the fans didn’t care.  The internet got on me for killing myself, all this stuff, and it really did mess me up.  The message behind the song is like my brother is my best friend, and I have these dreams and these things happen, and no matter what happens, he’s gonna always be there for me, and it’s the same the other way around.”  As we pursue a theme of looking back at relationships and discovering what we should have done, well, I think that we can all look back at our family relationships and see some things that we should have done better, like our relationships with our siblings.
            Before her, we heard from his album “Illuminate”, Shawn Mendes and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” from 2017.  The song is all about not holding back feelings, feelings being the topic of the song.  It is a song of the man in the relationship about his girlfriend: “I wanna follow where she goes; I think about her and she knows it.  I wanna let her take control ‘cause every time that she gets close, she pulls me in enough to keep me guessing.  I’ve been shaking; I love it when you go crazy.  You take all my inhibitions: there’s nothing holdin’ me back.”  So, there is nothing holding him back from allowing his girlfriend to take control.  Actually, I think that that is good and bad.  But in terms of our theme, as he would look back at this relationship, he would be able to tell what was good and what was bad.
            Now let’s begin this final double play with an excellent song about the magic of the good old days, basically saying we have to live in the present and realize that what we did in the past is affecting what we do today.  “I wish somebody would have told me,” Kesha begins the song, “someday, there will be the good old days, all the love you won’t forget and all these reckless nights you won’t regret—someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change.” In the rap part of the song, Macklemore says, “Now look at where we are, still growing up. Now that I’m here, wishing for those good old days.” Some great philosophy in the song, telling us that remembering the past is good, but we will always be able to remember the past—what we must do now is live well.  “Been scared of the future, thinking about the past while missing out on now,” they sing.  Thinking of it with our theme, if we learn to look back at the past, but live in the now, we will see what we should have done.  Great song and a great song to study. Go on You-tube and get the words. This is Benjamin Hammond Hagerty better known as Macklemore and with him is Kesha Rose Sebert better known as Kesha and their song “Good Old Days” from 2018 on MATT.
(double)    GOOD OLD DAYS / Macklemore f/ Kesha
                               10 THE BONES / Maren Morris
 
Part 12
            MATT presenting there Ms. Maren Morris from her album “Girl”, and her song at number 10 this week, “The Bones”.  It is a song about making a true commitment and a great song of love.  “We’re in the homestretch of the hard times,” she begins her song, “We took a hard left, but we’re alright.  Yeah, life sure can try to put love through it, but we built this right, so nothing’s ever gonna move it.  When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter.  Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter.  Let it rain ‘cause you and I remain the same.  When there ain’t a crack in the foundation, I know any storm we’re facing will blow right over while we stay put.  The house don’t fall when the bones are good.”  In terms of our theme today, if the commitment was as good as described, looking at it after a number of years, we will find that the commitment was made after we discovered what we should have done at that time.
            And the new number 1 song is about recovering from a break-up from Ms. Dua Lipa from her future album “Future Nostalgia,” and her song “Don’t Start Now”.  “Did a full one eighty,” she sings here.  “Crazy, thinking about the way I was.  Did the heartbreak change me?  Maybe, but look at where I ended up.  I'm all good already, so moved on.  It's scary: I'm not where you left me at all.  So if you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody, if you wanna believe that anything could stop me, don't show up, don't come out, don't start caring about me now.”  Her intention in the song is to get across to her ex-boyfriend that she is doing perfectly well without him.  In terms of our theme, looking back on any relationship and discovering what we should have done, being a little self-sufficient is one of them.
            Our theme today has been that thought of finding out what we should have done as we looked back at something, especially a relationship.  The thought came from Mr. Lewis Capaldi and his song “Before You Go.”  My prayer for you and me is that every one of us will be able to learn some things as we look back at what we have done.  My thanks to the producers of “Message at the Top,” to the staff here at Mix 103, and to our sponsors, some of whom include my friends at Hays Car and Truck Alignment, at TMP-Marian Junior and Senior High School in Hays, and at Holy Family Elementary School in Hays.  If you have any suggestions for me, or if you want to comment on anything I have said, feel free to write me here at KJLS-FM, Hays, KS 67601 or e-mail me at frmikescully@yahoo.com.  My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find a transcript of the show and some great meditations on these songs and some good movies.  Happy Summer almost to all of you.  Remember that you can join us on the web by choosing www.hayspost.com every Sunday morning at 10 Central Daylight Time and clicking on Mix 103.  A thought to lead us out comes from my favorite author, Mr. Mark Twain: “The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it.”  Whoa, cynical as always, but a truth—pun intended—that we should spend time acquiring.  The new number 1 song in our land is from Dua Lipa and here it comes, as I remind you that you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103 and as usual, we remind you among the other things that we have said to hold a good thought.  My name is Fr. Mike Scully.  Peace to you, stay safe and be good.
1 DON’T START NOW / Dua Lipa





January 5, 2020

"The Messages of the Top Songs from 1998 to 2019"

Part 1
            Hello Central Kansas and around the world; thank you for joining us this first Sunday of the new year of 2020.  Happy January, and happy winter although we haven’t seen too much of it so far.  Thank you for joining us and welcome to MATT on Mix 103, the number 1 rock station in central Kansas.  It’s great to have you with us this Sunday morning as we study the top 10 of today and yesterday, not only listening to the songs, but studying their meanings as well.  I am Fr. Mike Scully, your host for MATT and it’s my pleasure to give you some great songs and some great messages.  And especially today—we’ll begin the new year with the number 1 songs of every year from 1998 til 2019.  Therefore every song here I consider to be a 10+ category song of meaning.  Putting them altogether means that we will hear great meaning with every song.  I’ll be tempted to talk about all of them for a long time, but I will restrain myself.  This is a great show today.
            And we will begin with 2019 and talk about hope because the number 1 song last year was all about hope.  I did some checking on the idea of hope, and something I didn’t know came to light—in my mind anyway. 
            Elpis is Greek for “Hope” and it appears in ancient Greek mythology with the story of Zeus and Prometheus.  Prometheus stole fire from the god Zeus which infuriated Zeus of course.  In turn Zeus created a box that contained all manners of evil, unbeknownst to the receiver of the box.  Pandora opened the box after being warned not to, and unleashed a multitude of harmful spirits that inflicted plagues, diseases, and illnesses on humankind.  Spirits of greed, hatred, revenge, despair and other spirits scattered far and wide looking for humans to torment.  Inside the box, however, there was also an unreleased healing spirit named Hope.  From ancient times, people have recognized that a spirit of hope had the power to heal afflictions and helps them bear times of great suffering caused by malevolent spirits and events.
            Now I did not know that Greek mythology was the source of Pandora’s box and within it not only were bad things, but Hope was there also, and it had the power to heal from all the evil.
            Well, I doubt that the group Panic! At The Disco had any idea about Pandora’s Box and Hope but they certainly see the importance of hope for the world.  “Had to have high hopes for living,” they sing, “shooting for the stars when I couldn’t make a killing.  Didn’t have a dime but I always had a vision, always had high hopes.  Mama said, fulfill the prophecy, be something greater, go make a legacy, rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams.”  Smart Mama, indeed, who is inspiring him.  And that is one of the elements of being hopeful—that you have some inspiration to turn to in order to give one hope.
            The theme for the number 1 song of 2019 translates to all of our songs today: “There is hope in every situation of our lives.”  Panic! At The Disco, their song “High Hopes”, number 1 in 2019 on MATT.
(double)    19 HIGH HOPES / Panic! At the Disco
                               15 SEE YOU AGAIN / Wiz Khalifa f/ Charlie Puth
 
Part 2
            The number 1 song of meaning from 2015, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth from the “Furious 7” soundtrack and a tribute to actor Paul Walker who died before the movie was released, and their song “See You Again” on MATT.  “It's been a long day without you, my friend,” they sing, “And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.  We've come a long way from where we began.  Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.  Who knew?  All the planes we flew, good things we've been through that I'll be standing right here talking to you about another path.  I know we loved to hit the road and laugh, but something told me that it wouldn't last, had to switch up, look at things different, see the bigger picture.  Those were the days, hard work forever pays.  Now I see you in a better place.”  I love it when popular music refers to faith in God and heaven, and the song is very clear in its statement about it.  We will all be together again in our soul world.  If we really understand that, all of us would have a better life, I believe.  Of course, you would expect me to say that.
            A likewise great song is the number 1 song from 2011 which will be followed by the number 1 song from 2010 and 2008.  First to 2011.  I call it the number one song of meaning between the years 2002 to 2012 which is high praise for the song, I believe.  I place it that high because I look at it as the theme song of how to live in this world.  She is singing about the potential of the human being.  She sings: “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?  Do you know that there’s still a chance for you, ‘cause there’s a spark in you.  You just gotta ignite the light, let it shine, just own the night like the 4th of July, ‘cause you’re a firework: come on, show ‘em what you’re worth.  You’re original, cannot be replaced.  It’s always been inside of you, and now it’s time to let it through.”  What she is singing is that we can be so much more than we are now, and we shouldn’t be discouraged with who we are.  It has a great video connected with it as well.  From her album “Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection”, the excellent song “Firework” number 1 in 2011 on MATT. 
(triple)       11 FIREWORK / Katy Perry
                               10 LIVE LIKE WE’RE DYING / Kris Allen
                                    08 IT’S NOT MY TIME / 3 Doors Down
 
Part 3
            They have two songs of meaning among the songs of meaning from 1998 til 2019.  The number 1 song from 2008 from 3 Doors Down.  This is the group 3 Doors Down from their album simply named “3 Doors Down”, a great song with a great video “It’s Not My Time” on MATT.  “Looking back at the beginning of this,” they begin the song, “and how life was, just you and me and love and all of our friends, living life like an ocean.  Now the current’s slowly pulling me down.  It’s getting harder to breathe; it won’t be too long and I’ll be going under.  Can you save me from this?  It’s not my time, I’m not going.  All this time I’ve just been too blind to understand what should matter to me.  My friend, this life we live is not what we have, it’s what we believe.”  Determination to stay alive, and in the video, to prevent a death, is the topic of the song, even though life is tough and things don’t seem to be going the way we want.  The song is a plea for help as the man in the song tries to stay alive, as he sings, and he sings a very important line for a believer—“This life we live is not what we have, it’s what we believe.”  That which will bring about help, I believe, is finding a belief in a Higher Power. 
            Before them, we heard the number 1 song of 2010 from Mr. Kris Allen, American Idol first series number 8 from his album named after him, and his song “Live Like We’re Dying”.  Tremendous words here: “Sometimes we fall down and can’t get back up; we’re hiding behind skin that’s too tough.  How come we don’t say 'I love you' enough 'til it’s too late.  It's not too late.  If your life flashed before you, what would you wish you would've done.  We gotta start looking at the hands of the time we’ve been given here.  This is all we got and we gotta start pickin’ it.  Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’, gotta live like we’re dying.”  If we live like we're dying, every second will count as we live our day, and we will spend those seconds developing love and life.
            Magnificent thoughts from magnificent songs today since we are playing all the number 1 songs of the years 1998-2019.  Rock music always seems to have an approach to life about it, and rock songs always contain something to talk about, especially the songs of our show today.  Let me take you to break with a thought from Jacopo Sannazaro: “Man is only miserable so far as he thinks himself so.”  Now, that is one great thought—and it certainly addresses an attitude that can lead to being determined to do good things in life.  I’m Fr. Mike, inviting you to keep your dial right there as we continue shortly on MATT on Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 4
            We continue with the only show of its kind in this area as we celebrate winter in the Heartland of America.  It is great to have you with us on the station that plays the very best in rock music, and the show we have labeled as MATT, the show that takes the top 10 songs of today and yesterday, and discovers just what their approach to life is, often giving us some thoughts with which we can guide our lives toward the good, the show where our motto is to enjoy the music and listen to the message so that the message can help us.  My name is Fr. Mike, your host, and we are featuring the thoughts of the number 1 songs of every year from 1998 til 2019. 
            Let’s go back to the 90’s, this time to the number 1 song of meaning in 1999.  “Your brain gets smart,” they sing, “but your head gets dumb.  So much to do, so much to see.  You’ll never know if you don’t go.  Hey, now, you’re an all star, only shooting stars break the mold.  Go for the moon.”  I interpret the song this way: the group seems to be entreating us to carefully weigh our behavior, and eventually choose to motivate ourselves toward change since “the ice we skate is getting pretty thin.”  The song tells us to look carefully at what we are doing, and go for the moon—do the best that we can.  The group is Smash Mouth, an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1994, and still active in the music scene.  From their album named after them, Smash Mouth and their song “All Star” number 1 in 1999 on MATT. 
(double)    99 ALL STAR / Smash Mouth
                                    01 THANK YOU / Dido
 
Part 5
            We play it every Thanksgiving show on MATT, the number 1 song of meaning of 2001, from her album “No Angel,” Dido, and her actual name is quite long, but she goes by the name of Dido, actually her first name.  Her song is “Thank You.” “My tea’s gone cold,” she begins her song there, “I’m wondering why I got out of bed at all.  The morning rain clouds up my window, and I can’t see at all, and even if I could, it’d all be gray”—now that is excellent imagery of real negativity, but the song is just the opposite, because even though she has those negative feelings, she goes on to say, “But your picture on my wall—it reminds me that it’s not so bad.”  And the person in the song goes on to thank her boyfriend, a great song of thanksgiving, something we should all be into.
            Another triple closes off our first hour of the number 1 songs of the year from 1998 to 2019.  We begin the triple with the highest song of meaning from 2012.  It is a song that describes a situation that could bring about real anger and revenge, and there seems to be a little of that, but mainly, it is about a breakup that made the person in the song stronger.  “You know the bed feels warmer,” she begins the song, “sleeping here alone.  You think you got the best of me, think you had the last laugh, bet you think that everything good is gone, but you’re dead wrong.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller.  Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone.  What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter, footsteps even lighter, doesn’t mean I’m over ‘cause you’re gone.”  As we work to find those things that can give us help, one of them would be to take the negative things that happen, work on them, and let them make you better than you are right now.  From her album named after the song, American Idol number 1 Kelly Clarkson, and “Stronger”, the number 1 song of meaning of 2012, on MATT. 
(triple)        12 STRONGER / Kelly Clarkson
                                    17 SCARS TO YOUR BEAUTIFUL / Alessia Cara
                                    06 UNWRITTEN / Natasha Bedingfield
 
Part 6
            MATT presenting a super song from Natasha Bedingfield, from her album named after the song, the number 1 song of meaning in 2006, “Unwritten”.  It is a poetic statement about the fact that we are determining what kind of life we are going to lead.  “I am unwritten,” she sings, “can’t read my mind, I’m undefined.  I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.  Staring at the blank page before you, let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find.  Release your inhibitions, feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in.  No one else can speak the words on your lips, drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open.  Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.”  Marvelous words.  I look at it as a statement of where we are / and that from now on, no matter what has happened in our lives before, from now on, we will be able to live our future with arms wide open.  We can begin again.
            Before her, we heard from the number 1 song of all the songs of 2017, from Alessia Cara’s album “Know-It-All,” and “Scars to Your Beautiful”.  On the video, the song closes with her personal statement about the song which reads: “Oftentimes the world both directly and indirectly tells us that we shouldn’t be happy with ourselves if we don’t fit certain beauty standards.  ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’ is a reminder that beauty isn’t only one look, shape, size or color.  It isn’t even always tangible.  It comes in an endless amount of forms, and we need to recognize that.”  Indeed we should.  And so she sings her refrain: “But there's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark.  You should know you're beautiful just the way you are.  And you don't have to change a thing; the world could change its heart.  No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful.”  We are all beautiful simply because we are created by a loving God.
            There are important things being said here this morning, not because I said them, but as a result of the songs that we are playing today, the number 1 songs of meaning from the years 1998 to 2019.  Before our break, here is a thought about forgiveness from a man by the name of Paul Boese: “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”  You bet.  I’m Fr. Mike for MATT on Mix 103.  Why not stay right where you are as you enjoy life with us on this rather mild January Sunday morning.  We’ll be right back.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 7
            Every song has a message and with a little bit of help that message will usually help our lives.  Such is our philosophy on MATT.  We don’t need a lot of help to these songs today because they are so good with words.  We are back for the second hour which usually gives you the top 10 rock songs of our area that have been most popular during the week but today we have a special show, a super one I believe, since we are playing all of the number 1 songs of meaning since 1998.  I am your host, Fr. Mike.  Thank you for joining us again this morning.  Let’s begin here with the number 1 song of meaning of the whole year of 2007.
            It comes from a group that is the only artist or artists that have more than one song in this elite set of songs, the Canadian group by the name of Nickelback and this number 1 song of 2007, a song whose setting is a man in the relationship who is sharing real love with his friend, and having that love inspires him to think about the complicated world he is in.  The words of the refrain are: “If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we’d see the day when nobody died.  And I’m singing, amen, I’m alive.”  And they sing: “As we lie beneath the stars, we realize how small we are.  If they could love like you and me, imagine what the world could be.”  That is, we will have eternal life when we learn to love each other.  That is great theology and it gives rise to great thinking.  If we sense that there really is caring about another, it is a good indication that love is present.  This is the group Nickelback from their album “All The Right Reasons,” and the song “If Everyone Cared” number 1 in 2007 on MATT.
(triple)       07 IF EVERYONE CARED / Nickelback
                               00 WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN / Creed
                               98 IRIS / Goo Goo Dolls
 
Part 8
            The number 1 song of meaning from 1998, the Goo Goo Dolls, formed in 1986.  The song comes from the 1998 movie “City of Angels” soundtrack and was on the Billboard top 100 for almost a whole year.  It came from their album, “Dizzy Up the Girl,” and the song “Iris” on MATT. “I don’t want the world to see me,” they sing the thoughts of the angel in the song, “cause I don’t think that they’d understand.  When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.”  I really like that thought.  We do live in a world where a lot of things are expected not to last or be broken—as they sing.  “I just want you to know who I am,” the person sings, as if to say, you can count on me—I’m not going to break, and his love is going to be real, no matter what the circumstances.  One of the ingredients for a love to be real is that it be a giving love. 
            Before them, we heard the number 1 song of the year 2K, “With Arms Wide Open” from their album “Human Clay” from the group Creed.  They sing the thoughts of a man in a marriage: “Well, I just heard the news today.  It seems my life is gonna change.  I close my eyes, begin to pray, as tears of joy stream down my face.”  And how is his life going to change?  He and his wife are going to have a child.  “We’ve created life,” they sing.  And so they sing that everything has changed.  Anyone who has a child for the first time will tell you how true that is!  A couple who really wants a child, and experiences that miracle in their lives, really understands what the power of love in life is all about. 
            Let’s go to another triple play right now, and begin this one with the number 1 song of 2002.  She begins the song: “My friend the communist holds meetings in his RV.  I can’t afford his gas, so I’m stuck here watching TV.  I don’t have digital, I don’t have diddley squat.  It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.  I’m gonna soak up the sun, I’m gonna tell everyone to lighten up.  I’m gonna tell them that I’ve got no one to blame; for every time I feel lame, I’m lookin’ up.”  Now that is one great attitude, and what makes it more difficult is that her boyfriend doesn’t seem to have it—maybe something’s wrong with you, she says.  The songs says simply: adopt a positive attitude in life.  MATT presenting here Sheryl Crow from her album “C’mon, C’mon” the number 1 song of 2002, “Soak Up the Sun” on MATT.
(triple)       02 SOAK UP THE SUN / Sheryl Crow
                                    16 UNSTEADY / X Ambassadors
                                    03 I’M WITH YOU / Avril Lavigne
 
Part 9
            Going back to the year 2003 and the number 1 song of meaning then from Canadian singer/songwriter and her song “I’m With You” from her album “Let Go,” Avril Lavigne on MATT.  It is a cry for help as I look at it, and a significant song, what I call poignant words that every adult and youth minister should study carefully.  In many ways, this song is the philosophical description of teenage thinking, and may be the best top 40 song that has been produced that helps the parent and youth minister to understand the specific situation of a teenager in North American society.  It is a song of a teenager hoping that adults and other teenagers will be interested in her/him.  Young people want involvement.  In a sense, they want someone to take them “by the hand” because although they might not understand why things happen, they know first-hand what the world is doing to them, namely, causing a situation where “nothing’s going right and everything’s a mess” as she sings.  “Isn’t anyone trying to find me,” she sings, “Won’t somebody come take me home.  It’s a damn cold night, trying to figure out this life.  Won’t you take me by the hand.  I don’t know who you are, but I’m with you.  I’m looking for a place; I’m searching for a face.  Is anybody here I know, ‘cause nothing’s going right and everything’s a mess.  And no one likes to be alone.”  Great song, as all of these are.
            Before her, another song about young people, I believe, and just as important as Avril Lavigne’s, the number 1 song of 2016.  It was from the group X Ambassadors and a song that talks about the importance of Moms and Dads.  It is from their album “VHS”, and their song “Unsteady”.  In my humble opinion, it should be required listening for everyone who decides to have a family.  “Hold on,” the young person sings because he/she is a little unsteady.  “Mama,” the child sings, “come here.  Daddy, I’m alone ‘cause this house don’t feel like home.  If you love me, don’t let go.  Hold on to me.”  One of the great hopes for everyone’s future in life, is that parents will treat their children with great care.  Unfortunately, it will cause great hurt when that does not happen.
            What great songs these songs are, the number 1 songs from the years 1998 through 2019.  And we have made it to our final segment of this first Sunday of the winter month of January of the year 2020—ah, the beginning of a new year.  What will that new year bring for each of us?  Interesting question, and something to think about.  During this next segment, you will hear and hopefully enjoy the artistry of Swedish House Mafia, the group Nickelback again, the group Los Lonely Boys, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry and 3 Doors Down.  I take you to break with another thought, this one from the Roman satirist Juvenal—many moons ago: “All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.”  Paying the price involves a lot of work and effort but if we want to have a good life, it is worth it.  I’m Fr. Mike, and you’re listening to “Message at the Top” on Mix 103.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
 
Part 10
            We are back for our final segment of the number 1 songs of meaning of the years 1998 through 2019.  And we always give you the meanings of the songs we play.  I hope this beginning of the cold month of January has been good for you, and that your new year will be one of good things.  I’m your host, Fr. Mike on “Message at the Top” on today’s best music Mix 103.  Thank you for joining us again this morning.  It’s great to have you with us, as we have taken a theme of the meanings of the number 1 songs of the years 1998-2019.  Great songs on our show today, even super-great if there is a category like that.
            The number 1 song of meaning in the year 2004 was from the group Los Lonely Boys and a song that calls to mind the virtue of hope as it calls upon our Supreme Being.  They sing a prayer to God: “Save me from this prison; Lord, help me get away ‘cause only you can save me now from this misery.  Well, I’ve been lost in my own place, and I’m getting weary—How far is heaven—And I know that I need to change my ways of living—How far is heaven—Lord, can you tell me.”  You can bet that I like this song because I firmly believe that one of the things that we must hope for is a better place which might just require some changes in ourselves.  This is the group Los Lonely Boys, from their self-named album, and “Heaven”, the number 1 song of 2004 on MATT.
(triple)       04 HEAVEN / Los Lonely Boys
                                    13 DON’T YOU WORRY CHILD / Swedish House Mafia
                                    09 IF TODAY WAS YOUR LAST DAY / Nickelback
 
Part 11
            Another group who have two songs among the songs of meaning over the past 22 years.  That one was another great song from the group Nickelback, and their song “If Today Was Your Last Day”, one of the most meaningful songs of the past decade and the number 1 song of 2009 from their album “Dark Horse”.  “My best friend gave me the best advice;” they began their song, “he said each day’s a gift and not a given right; leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind, and try to take the path less traveled by.  That first step you take is the longest stride.  If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late, could you say goodbye to yesterday?  Would you live each moment like your last, leave old pictures in the past?  Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?”  What a great song!  Their advice: “Do whatever it takes, ‘cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life.  Would you call those friends you never see, reminisce old memories?  Would you forgive your enemies?”  One of the indications of love is the fact that we are living every moment as if it were our last.  Super stuff there.
            In fact, all of these song give us super stuff.  Before them, we heard the number 1 song of meaning from 2013.  It is a song about a breakup and learning from it.  The lesson the person in the song learns is that things will work out well.  “There was a time I used to look into my father's eyes,” he sings.  “In a happy home, I was a king, I had a golden throne.  Those days are gone, now the memory's on the wall.  I hear the songs from the places where I was born.  Upon a hill across a blue lake, that's where I had my first heartbreak.  I still remember how it all changed.  My father said, 'Don't you worry, child.  See heaven's got a plan for you.”  The song points out the theological thought that God is at work even in the most dire of circumstances for young people in love and for all people really.  Even though there is a breakdown of a relationship in which love was present and no longer is, God or heaven is at work.  In fact, God will always be at work in every part of our lives, helping us achieve a good life.  A way to help us from worrying in life and love—turn to God in your life.  Of course, you know that I would say that.  Great song here, from Swedish House Mafia, and singer John Martin, and their song “Don’t You Worry Child”, number 1 in 2013 on MATT. 
            Number 1 the following year is next for your listening pleasures.  It is a statement by the girl in the relationship that if the man wants a commitment from her, she will give it, but he’d better be sure of what he’s doing.  “I knew you were gonna come to me,” the lady in the relationship sings, “and here you are, but you better choose carefully ‘cause I’m capable of anything and everything.  So you wanna play with magic, boy, you should know what you’re falling for.  I’m coming at you like a dark horse.  Are you ready for a perfect storm ‘cause once you’re mine, there’s no going back.”  Her words are excellent for anyone who wants to have a sincere relationship with commitment—you don’t enter it lightly, and you’d better be ready to back up your words.  And it really is up to both of them whether the relationship will work or not, and each of them should spend time doing it.  A song nominated for a Grammy, Ms. Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson better known as Katy Perry, the second song among the top songs of meaning from 1998 till 2019, this one with Jordan Michael Houston better known as Juicy J and their song “Dark Horse” from Katy Perry’s album “Prism”, number 1 in 2014 on MATT. 
(double)    14 DARK HORSE / Katy Perry f/ Juicy J
                                    05 LET ME GO / 3 Doors Down
 
Part 12
            The second song from them in our top songs of meaning of the past 22 years.  Going back to 2005, from the album “Seventeen Days” from 3 Doors Down, the number 1 song of meaning that year, “Let Me Go” on MATT. “One more kiss,” they sing the thoughts of the man in the relationship, “could be the best thing, but one more lie could be the worst.  And all these thoughts are never resting, and you’re not something I deserve.  In my head there’s only you now.  In this world there’s real and make believe, and this seems real to me.  I’m torn between this life I lead and where I stand.  And you love me, but you don’t know who I am.  So let me go.”  This is a really important message especially for the marriages of our world.  Before we can say that we love someone, we really have to know them—the reason why so many marriage counselors suggest dating for a long time before marriage takes place.  During that time, one will have to learn many things about the other, and learn to be completely satisfied with the other.  Super song for people in love.
            As is this final song of our show today from Ed Sheeran, the number 1 song of 2018.  It actually began its air time in 2017, but it was so popular that it took the number 1 song of all the songs that were played in 2018.  His song “Perfect” from his album which is just a division sign.  “I found a love for me,” he begins the song, “just dive right in and follow my lead.  I found a girl, beautiful and sweet, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me ‘cause we were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was.  I will not give you up this time, your heart is all I own and in your eyes you’re holding mine.  When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath, but you heard it, you look perfect tonight.”  Something that people in love must remember is that they show that love in as perfect a way as possible.  And for those who are not in love in a romantic way, we ought to learn love of others in as perfect a way as possible also.  
            And there you have it, a number of great songs today, 22 of them, the number one songs of meaning of the years 1998 to 2019.  This was an important show for all of us because the number 1 songs of those years had truly important things to say to us.  My prayer for you and me is that we continue to learn from the songs that we play here.  My thanks to the producers of “Message at the Top” and to our sponsors, especially Hays Car and Truck Alignment, Thomas More Prep-Marian Junior and Senior High School and Holy Family Elementary School, all three in Hays, and all three places with great products.  If you have some song suggestions or want to comment on anything that I have said, feel free to write me here at KJLS-FM, Hays, or e-mail me at frmikescully@yahoo.com.  My website is www.frmikescully.com where you will find some meditations on these songs and some great movies and a transcript of the show.  Remember that you can join us on the web every Sunday morning at 10 am by going to www.hayspost.com and choosing Mix 103.  We invite you to be here next Sunday, same time, same station.  One final quotation from Albert Einstein.  “Only a life lived for others is a life worth-while.”  How about that!—Albert Einstein.  The number 1 song of 2018 was from Ed Sheeran.  And as you listen, may I remind you that you are listening to today’s best music Mix 103 and part of our advice is to hold a good thought.  My name is Fr. Mike Scully.  Peace to you, and be good!
18 PERFECT / Ed Sheeran