It's not like in the movies

I am teaching a world music survey class at a small college. Today, on the second day of class, my sweet undergraduate students were assigned to bring in an example of music that would provide the class with some insight into their lives and values. Oh, the heartbreaking line-up of songs! Selections ranged from Disney's Cinderella to Hank Williams to Perry Como to a Japanese anime soundtrack sung in Italian. The students put themselves right out there as they explained why their song was important to them. The music matters and they matter. And here is something I should already know for certain, but sometimes I need to be hit over the head: Music is not the soundtrack to our journey, it is food for the journey, it is a gift, manna- it nourishes and sustains us, and it comes from the same place we ourselves come from. If we take the metaphor just a teensy bit too far, we could say that it is a trail of bread crumbs and it might lead us home. But only if we take that metaphor beyond the safety zone. Who's with me?