A Song You'll Probably Never Hear

I heard a song this week that made me interested in listening to music again. Unfortunately, you'll probably never hear it.

I majored in music, played professionally for a few years, then turned to producing television. I currently write video documentaries. I'm usually given a big box of videotapes, photographs, etc., and from those, I create the documentary. It's in this context that I heard the song.

The documentary is about an admirable young man. Donald (not his real name) maintained a 4.0 grade point average through high school, was a Beta Club member, and participated in the Hi-Q academic team. He also worked as an accounting assistant at a local business. He was active in his church and led the morning devotionals at his school.

Donald was a National Merit Scholar. His principal says he had the test scores and grades to get a scholarship at college or university in the country, including Harvard. Donald chose to go to a religious school because he wanted to be a youth minister.

About a year ago, Donald was in his first semester at collage. He attended a religious event with about a dozen other students at his school. They were returning in a 15-passenger van. A tire blew. The van turned over. Three of the students were killed - one was Donald.

He left behind grieving parents, of course, and also a grieving girlfriend.

In her interview, Jan (not her real name either) talked about what an inspirational person Donald was. She described herself only as "a silly girl who plays guitar."

I put a tape into the player and watched. There was Jan holding a big acoustic guitar. "Oh, Jeebus," I thought as the cynical old newsman kicked in. "Just what I need to hear - a girl screeching and flailing on a dreadnought guitar."

Article Author: John Simmons

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