Here You Come Again

​I lead a training today on calming the overwhelmed central nervous system. One of the many helpful tips I offered was music.

The rhythm of music creates predictability when an overwhelmed nervous system is dealing with uncertainty.

Familiar music, the songs we know and love, allows the overwhelmed brain to know what's coming next—the melody, chorus, rhythm, maybe even the next word. There is peace in that.

And music can reconnect us in the challenging present with safe memories from the past.

I won't claim to be a lifelong Dolly Parton music fan, even as much as I've loved following the life of Dolly and her giant and generous heart for others. But there is one song I am a giant fan of—one that has lived in me and popped up from time to time over the last five decades.

Here You Come Again.

A 1977 Dolly Parton hit. I was a middle schooler. Back then we didn't have Spotify or Apple Music downloads to share. And we had no internet to use to look up the words to songs. All we could do was sit with our portable cassette tape recorders, hold a microphone to the radio, and wait. Wait for hours sometimes for the DJ to play our song so we could hit the record button.

I don't remember how long I had to wait to record Dolly's song; it feels like it was a long time.

Once I had my recording, I could listen to the song—play and pause, play and pause, over and over—all while writing down the lyrics, pen to paper. And then, once again pen to paper, I'd craft a love note to my middle school love that included the lyrics:

Here you come again
Just when I'd begun to get myself together
You waltz right in the door
Just like you've done before
And wrap my heart 'round your little finger
All you got to do is smile that smile
And there go all my defenses
Just leave it up to you and in a little while
You're messin' up my mind and fillin' up my senses

Reflecting on Dolly's life today, it amazes me how many things I've forgotten the last fifty years—complete blurs— and yet, I can still hear Dolly singing that song on the radio as clearly as I could hear it back then when I finally got to hit that record button.

Here You Come Again.

I know your life has brought great comfort to the overwhelmed over the years, Dolly. And what a gift, that we live in a day and age that even though you are gone, your comfort never will be.

Here You Come Again 🎶🎶