Trial Balloon: December 29, 2008 Archive

Is there a song that describes 2008 for you?

I'm not necessarily talking about a song that was new this year, but rather, one that could represent what the year meant, personally.

We're all familiar with the biggest stories. If the economy defined the year for you, feel free to go directly to the blues. Or "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?".
If it was the election, something majestic might be in order, or an old favorite from the civil rights movement, like "We Shall Overcome".
Or back to the blues, if your politics lead you there.

There are also smaller stories. Maybe these will matter most in the long run.
At our house, transition was the theme. My wife and I both went through a few changes at our workplaces. What was even more important; we graduated a high school senior and sent him off to college. One of my enduring memories of 2008 is set on that warm June evening when we stood in the high school parking lot with hundreds of enthusiastic teenagers and their families as they celebrated their accomplishments and expressed their profound relief.
For that reason alone, my song of the year has to be "Stepstone".

I stood on the stepstone when schooldays was o'er,
Long for the time to go by.
Now that it's gone, I stand here tonight,
and bid this old stepstone goodbye.

Goodbye to my stepstone, goodbye to my home,
God bless the ones that I leave with a sigh.
Fields will be widening and I will be gone
To ramble this wide world alone.

A little melancholy, I know. But there's some optimism in it, and plenty of gratitude. Even though my favorite version of the song was recorded back in 1944, when I hear it, I'll always think of 2008.

So, what's your "Song of the Year"?