Light The Way

A look at the songs that have shaped
my life and ended up on my devices.

I first heard Helen Reddy's "Candle On The Water" back in 1977, when she sang it for the original version of the Disney Movie Pete's Dragon. I forgot how beautiful it was until a friend requested it more than three decades later for slow dance music at a historic ball I was calling for a wedding reception.



Capitol Records released a single version of this song with more instrumentation and backing vocals. Although I don't have a record of it making the top 40, it hit #27 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. I still prefer the version used in the film, which is what is on my devices.

The lyrics are filled with spiritual imagery, which explains why the senior high school choir sang it at my old church.

But if you want imagery and spirituality, listen to this song while flying over the Chesapeake Bay at night. I did, in 2016, while flying into Richmond, Virginia on the way to another George Washington Ball in Williamsburg. I didn't program the song to play at that moment; the shuffle was in the right place at the right time.

I repeated playing it... several times.