Music Man

“Music is the soundtrack of your life.”--Dick Clark.

In 1983, German musician Peter Schilling had a hit single with the song “Major Tom (Coming Home).”

The song, which features a character unofficially related to Major Tom from David Bowie’s 1969 song “Space Oddity”, peaked at No. 14 in the U.S. on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart during the final week of the year.

I remember hearing “Major Tom (Coming Home)” while working out at a neighborhood gym and one of my buddies starting whistling along with the chorus.

“Earth below us, Drifting, falling, Floating weightless, Calling, calling home...”

The song faded from my memory for the longest time, but it made a surprise comeback a few days ago when I decided to enlist Major Tom in my Mental Health Hit parade.

Let me explain. I struggle with depression, anxiety, hostility, and a slew of other issues that circle my brain like a colony of vampire bats swarming around a 20-story blood bank.

But I’m on a journey to become my greatest version and so I’m always on the lookout for new techniques and approaches to psych up my psyche.

I already have a series of routines and methods to keep my lid intact, including prayer, meditation, journaling, EFT, or emotional freedom tapping, to name a few.

Music also plays a part in this effort as I look for songs that can get me out of whatever slump I’m roiling through.

I’ve mentioned a few in the past, including Frank Sinatra’s “Nothing but the Best,” the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.”

I also like Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off” and “All You Need is Love,” from the Beatles and Peter Townsend’s “Let My Love Open the Door,” which fits into my new year theme of “Open the door in ’24.”

'They're Playing My Song'

Fans of Modern Family, like yours truly, may remember the episode where Jay sings a few bars of Seals & Crofts’ easy listening lobotomy “Summer Breeze” to keep his blood pressure down.

“Major Tom/Calling Home” has a pre-chorus countdown from four to simulate a rocket launch and I’ve melded that sound-off with a variant of self-help speaker Mel Robbins’ Five Second Rule, which is used to combat procrastination.

I’ve tried the Five Second Rule and not only has it helped me get my rear in gear, it’s also been good for stomping on the ANTS--automatic negative thoughts.

There’s something about counting down to zero just seems so official. I mean, who wants to disrupt a trip to outer space?

My routine, which I’ve dubbed "The Process," is a grouping of several items from my emotional toolbox.

Ideally, whenever I find myself getting twisted about something—an all-too-often occurrence--I start with the chorus of “Major Tom”--including the countdown—snap a rubber band on my wrist that I wear at all times.

I then grab my middle finger, which, according to the practitioners of the energy exercise JinShin Jyutsu, soothes anger and irritability, while reciting the Lord’s Prayer, something a priest in Honolulu advised me to do years ago when I was confessing my sins during a Hawaiian vacation.

Yes, it’s bit elaborate, but like the man said, “music hath charms to soothe the savage breast” and this routine can work like a charm—as long as I choose to apply it.

I’m addicted to anger and so, if I’m not vigilant, I’ll subconsciously choose to reject my anger management techniques and get all righteously riled up.

In those situations, I decide to feed the bad wolf from the Native American parable, which represents things like greed, hatred, and fear—another concept I like to keep handy. The soundtrack to these awful episodes is Bowie's "Putting out Fire" from "Cat People."

Sometimes when I look at my toolbox, I think of the “Pins and Needles” routine from The Honeymooners, or “Serenity now!” from Seinfeld, which failed in their stated purpose to calm people down, but they make me laugh and that’s better than exploding on the launchpad.

“Major Tom (Coming Home)” ends with the world mourning the lost astronaut, but the lyrics tell us that “now the light commands, this is my home, I’m coming home.”

Sounds good to me.