"What's your favorite song?"

I hate when people ask me that, because what music-loving person could ever distill a lifetime of exposure to all kinds of wonderful and moving material down to one song? Perhaps "What's your favorite song right this second" might be more approachable as a goal. Or "What is your favorite song by Son House?", although even that would give me pause.

So I have lots of favorite songs. But a couple are really special. If I am ever forced to answer the question at the top of this post, I will almost always answer with "Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie Johnson. I love that song every time I hear it. I have a verse from it tattooed on the back of my iPod:

"Big Eighty left Savannah, Lord and did not stop"

This song is raw and displays the full range of yearning and spunk that Delta Blues is famous for. But if I were to be asked what I think the most beautiful song is I would reply without pausing, "Until The Last Moment" by Yanni. Yes, I know...Yanni. Ha...ha...get it out of your system. It is an amazing song. We have it on Maddie's iPod playlist at night and so I hear it through the baby monitor quite often. I sometimes just wake up and hear part of it and think "Damn, that's awesome". So don't laugh until you go hear it first. Amazing.

There are more favorites, for different moods and times, but those two are right at the top of my Himalaya of music...so high the Tibetan prayer flags are fastened to them.