Hallelujah

Last week I was in St George and my mother-in-law invited me to go to a concert with her. I had never heard of the "Canadian Tenors" before. Apparently they performed at the Olympic opening ceremonies in Vancouver, and were on Oprah a few weeks ago. My mother-in-law is Canadian (Yes, my hubbie and daughter have duel citizenship) so I thought she just wanted to go because they were from her home. I don't know what I was anticipating when we first arrived at the theatre, but I was definitely surprised to see that the whole auditorium was filled with silver haired senior citizens. As the men came out I started counting how many songs I would have to sit through smelling the weird medley of old lady perfume. I noticed that one of the very last songs on the program was one of my favorites, "Hallelujah", by Leonard Cohen. The first time I was introduced to this song was a little over a year ago at my cousin Roy's funeral. Roy was only a few years older than me, and it was a difficult death to deal with. Although the song is Leonard Cohen's, the version that was played at the funeral was Jeff Buckley's. It immediately became a song I love, and I have been trying to learn to play it on the guitar. The Biblical references are interesting, but the lyrics do sound a little strange if you don't make all of the connections. Each version is different, and the "Canadian Tenors" sound so much more magical in person than they do on video. I thought I would share with you a video of them singing my favorite song anyway. I ended up really enjoying the whole concert, they sang a lot of songs in French, Italian, and Spanish. It was really nice. When they were on Oprah they didn't know that Celine Dion was going to join them on stage, so that is why the transition is kind of off in the video when she walks out :) While at their concert I didn't notice that they weren't really following the program until they bid us adieu, and walked off stage without singing the song I had been waiting for. I was so happy that they did return, and sang it as their last song. I think it is such a weird "tradition" for performers to leave and then come back to perform more. Oh well, I was happy to hear the song anyway. I liked the way that the voices melded together, and every person sang their part beautifully. Each person's voice was so different, and the outcome was wonderful. I reflected on that today as I held my sick sleeping little girl, as Kyle gave her a blessing. I felt such a strong bond to our family, and a love for the different roles that we all play. It is often strange to think of myself as a mother, and I feel inadequate. For that brief moment, we all came together as a family should, and played our part. I am far from having perfect pitch as far as motherhood goes, and that is why we have each other to pick up where the other leaves off. I hope you enjoy this version. Maybe check out Cohen or Buckley's if you get a chance, because this video only has about half the song.