Last Friday I had the privilege of sharing a virtual stage with Freebo, who used to play bass with Bonnie Raitt, and Janni Littlepage, who used to sing with Loggins and Messina. I had to talk to myself the whole time, “Vicki, this isn’t about comparing. Remember, comparison is a little murder. Show up and sing.” So I showed up and sang. I sang the song I am offering you in this newsletter because my dear friend and platinum songwriter/singer/keynote concertarian Jana Stanfield, likes it the best of all the songs of mine she has heard.
After the concert, I got some requests for the song and the lyrics. Graduation and Mother’s Day are perfect opportunities to say and sing well done, so I am giving this song to you this week in hopes you will sing it to yourself and others.
Note: I will have another Concert Window fun time with Deb Gauldin on May 22nd. She nourishes people with her songs and stories and makes us all laugh.. I will get back to you with details as soon as I know them.
Let people know you love them. Do not wait until they are worthy. Do not wait until you have worked out all the kinks with them. Just say “I love you and thank you for all you have done for me.”
Here is the song to share
Well Done. An excerpt from my book Woman with a Voice follows.
“I wrote this song as I was listening to keynote speaker Margarita Suarez at an Oregon Counseling Association conference. She encouraged all of us to jump off that cliff of safety and live our lives more fully. As a therapist for over thirty years, she told us that, in her opinion, the single most limiting factor in people’s lives is having never heard “well done.” She said men especially need to hear “well done, son.”
As soon as I heard these words, my inner Muse said, “That is a song!” I started writing, and at the end of the conference, as I had the group in a circle for the closing song (“It Takes a Whole Village” from my CD Alive, Alive) I heard my Muse again say, “Sing the song!”
“But I have not even sung it out loud to myself yet!” I protested. “Sing the song!” my Muse insisted, and so I did. After the conference, two women came up and asked me for the words to the first verse, which was all I had completed at the time. I got a note from one of the women later, telling me she had calligraphed the words, framed them, and given them to her son for his birthday.
I have sung this song at baccalaureates and at almost every presentation I have made for the last several years. A friend played it at her mother’s funeral. One high school class calligraphied the song for Mother’s Day. It is a simple song with a simple message, and it often makes people cry. I can hear Willie Nelson singing it, and I’m hoping he will want to record it. If you know him, will you ask him?”
Let your love spill from your mouth and body all day long