I am dating myself by asking you this question but it’s for a sweet reason so I’m going to go with it.
Do you remember a popular song called The Name Game?
It was a big hit when I was a young girl. In fact, it was a huge hit that aired on the radio constantly. My friends, siblings and I used to sing it ALL THE TIME because it was so absolutely silly. We rode a big yellow school bus to elementary school five days a week from our house and I remember for a number of months we would sing The Name Game to each other while trying to dance around in our seats, which was something you could very easily do back then because there were no seat belts!!
If you’re not familiar with the song here’s how the lyrics to The Name Game would go:
Janey!
Janey, Janey bo Baney, Bonana fanna fo faney
Fee fi mo Maney, Janey!
On and on it would go as we took each other’s names and we would insert someone’s name into the song, changing the lyrics around to the name of whoever we were with and acting like it was a surprise when the person’s name was picked. Whether we were on the bus, in the car or hanging out in each other’s basements singing to the actual song while it played on a record player, it was a one of those songs that everyone knew my heart and it stayed in your head for a long time.
The Name Game made us laugh and roll around on the floor because we would get it all mixed up and then make up our own lyrics!! It was great fun and the song takes me back to a wonderful time of my life.
But then I was watching television a few days ago and I was on my way to the kitchen to get another bowlful of popcorn when this totally touching commercial from Johnson & Johnson came on and stopped me in my tracks.
The Name Game! But this time the song is sung in a much different way.
The song opens in a hospital room and is quietly sung by a nurse and a patient so as to distract and empower the young girl who appears to be undergoing treatment for cancer.
I believe in music’s healing powers and also in its ability to transport us and give us space to sort through our emotions. The beautiful commercial also highlighted for me the power of music to distract, to help you feel brave and to take away pain, if only for a few moments.
It’s a truly healing and supportive commercial that gets me every time and reminds me of the blessings in my world that I often take for granted.
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