Advice: Read Between The Lines and Come From The Heart

If I was going to leave behind a mixed tape of advice songs for my kids, these would be the first two songs. Both are chock full of great advice:



Steve Goodman: Between The Lines [purchase]

The day you’re born they sign a piece of paper
That will certify the date of your birth
And the day you die they sign another
Just to prove you’ve gone back to the Earth

Between those two pieces of paper
There is the truth that is so hard to find
The story of your life is written
But you must read in between the lines

When you're young you think it don’t matter
If you leap before you look
But those old folks are wiser and sadder
From the chances that they took

Now when your chance comes along you must take it
Just be careful and take your time
And the chances are good you will make
If you can read in between the lines…

When someone tells you they “love you”
And “no one has ever loved you more”
It is wise to stop and consider
How many times they might have said that before

Because when love leaves you crying
Then you will surely lose your mind
And you might have known love was lying
If you could read in between the lines

Guy Clark: Come From The Heart [purchase]

When I was a young man my daddy told me
A lesson he learned, it was a long time ago
If you want to have someone to hold onto
You're gonna have to learn to let go

You got to sing like you don't need the money
Love like you'll never get hurt
You got to dance like nobody's watchin'
It's gotta come from the heart if you want it to work

Now here is the one thing that I keep forgetting
When everything is falling apart
In life as in love, what I need to remember
There's such a thing as trying too hard