Even though summertime is over and festivals are fewer, I still want to add a slice of music into blog posts as much as I can. So welcome to the first real supplement of “Quote of the Week.” Usually the quote will have something to do with music. Please feel free to comment on the quotes, add your own quotes, or just start up a conversation.

In one of my English classes we just read, “Sonny’s Blues” the beautiful short story written by James Baldwin in 1957. It was a very powerful read, which I highly recommend. Although I want to splurge and include all of my favorite quotes from the story, I’ll spread them throughout to keep the weeks interesting. Here’s the first one:

“As the singing filled the air the watching, listening faces underwent a change, the eyes focusing on something within; the music seemed to soothe a poison out of them; and time seemed, nearly, to fall away from the sullen, belligerent, battered faces, as though they were fleeing back to their first condition, while dreaming of their last.”

Regardless of how broken we are, music can soothe us and bring us to another place. Even if it is for a moment, that moment helps us breathe and live through the suffering. I love that line about music soothing a poison out of us.