Manfred Klose wrote
The power of music my friend.
Sort of. I think that the power of great songwriting (or great poetry) is often that it addresses something that is universal without getting too specific.
I've been playing a song lately "Ye Jacobites By Name". It 's credited to Robbie Burns, and Burns indeed wrote the most commonly known words for this song. However, the truth is that he RE-wrote it. There was another song with the same name, dealing with pretty much the same situation and written only slightly earlier. But it was too rooted in specific situations, too directed at specific people to survive down the years. It had a short shelf life. The magic that Burns wrought was to keep the song's message intact, but to also tap into themes that are more universal, that predate the song and that are still relevant now. I don't want to get into my specifics, but to me that song still rings loud and clear - and probably will do for centuries to come.
So with a lot of great songs/poems there's room for us to invest a bit of something of ourselves or our lives, to find our own meaning.
I can't say I've had as obvious and as apposite an experience as Riaans ?
