The music of our hearts: Mill Valley (1970)

You know, if I were to talk to any of you out there in blog land about music, we would eventually come to a song (or songs) that touch a part of your soul that no one else knows exists. Sometime it's connected with an event or a person, but when you hear the song, it sends you to another place and another time. The emotions connected with can put a smile on your face, bring tears to your eyes, or both.

According to her website: (www.ritaabrams.com), Miss Abrams (her name on the record), moved to Mill Valley CA to get away from the cold and gray of the northeast. On Christmas Day of 1969, she wrote a song for her kindergarten class to sing. A producer encouraged her to record it, and with the 3rd grade class of the Strawberry Point School she did just that. It reached #90 on the charts, which encouraged her to go into music full time. She has become very successful with two emmys, and 26 ASCAP awards among many others. She has also branched out into writing, greeting cards, and musical theater.

There are many songs that were not top 10 hits (or top 30 or top 100) that speak to people. "Mill Valley" is one of those songs. For those of us who have not lost our sense of hope, or longing, or child-likeness. It speaks to a place where all is peaceful, a place where things are as they should be. Some of us spend much if not all of our lives looking for Mill Valley. The fact is that all of us have that place in our hearts if it's not buried under the burdens of life to the point we can't recognize it any longer. Maybe it's too pollyannish to dream that the world could ever be peaceful, it is so easy to allow the anger and the angry to envelop, but I'm willing to give it a try. Besides, maybe living "Mill Valley" myself is the first step. Thanks Rita.....