The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #120259   Message #2614096
Posted By: Eve Goldberg
18-Apr-09 - 06:49 PM
Thread Name: Authenticity Police
Subject: RE: Authenticity Police
Well, this isn't exactly from the "authenticity police" angle, but it seems to belong here, especially after the last post.

I have a song called "Old Tin Cup" that includes a refrain and chorus with the words "Hold on to what you've got." To me the song is about paying attention to and appreciating the things you have, some intangible, some concrete -- friends, songs, love, time, dreams, a roof over your head, etc.

I sang the song at a concert near Philadelphia one night and afterwards a man came up to me, unprompted, to tell me "that song wasn't very Buddhist."

I didn't quite know what to say, since

a) I never claimed that the song was Buddhist in any way

and

b) actually, if he'd listened to the words, he would have realized that many of the ideas expressed do dovetail nicely with some of the principles of Buddhism

It's given me a nice little story to tell about the song, though!