BITTER SWEET, Ky. — I’m switching gears this week, as I often do, so please bear with me. But I wanted to share my thoughts with you on a couple of songs I heard on the radio just the other day.

Within the span of a few minutes I heard one of my all-time favorite songs along with something new I had never heard before. Now, before you stop reading and move on to the new recipe section, hear me out. What makes this worthy of writing about are the messages contained in these two songs. And not just the words themselves, but the way the words made me feel.

First, my favor-ite: the Miranda Lambert ballad The House that Built Me. More than anything, Lambert has such a dynamic voice that makes anything she sings a sure bet to hit the charts. But this song is especially touching for anyone looking to go home again.

For those living on Mars and have not heard this one, it’s about a woman who returns to the house in which she grew up at a time when life has perhaps gotten to be too much.

The lyrics in this song are so descriptive and tell a story of a simple but charmed upbringing; a place you want to go back to; a place that takes you back to a simpler time; a home her dad built for her mom and the rest of the family.

How many times have we all wanted to return to that place – a less complicated time in our lives? The right song can do that for us as this one does for me. 

The new song is by a group call Love and Theft and the song title is Whiskey on My Breath. Now I realize that is such a stereotypical title to a country song, but it ain’t what you think. This is a sort of spiritual song, believe it or not. My interpretation of this song is of someone struggling with a drinking problem and while that person believes in the Lord and isn’t afraid to die, he doesn’t want to meet Jesus with “whiskey on my breath.”

Besides the song having a nice melody and a solid country sound, one line really got me to thinking of how many of us have a vice that keeps us from enjoying a relationship with our families, our friends and, yes, even our Lord.

I guess my whole point in this column is to say that while the music we choose to listen to can be of great entertainment, it can also move us emotionally and hopefully move us to try to be better to ourselves and be better to others. I give both of these musical selections an A in my classroom, and I encourage us all to listen just a bit more closely to our favorite songs and see what lessons we can learn.

Readers with questions or comments may write to Johnson in care of this publication.