In the late 90’s, living in Greensboro, NC, I set a few poems from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse to music and arranged them for youth chorus. At the time, my son John sang with the Greensboro Youth Chorus.

One of those songs, Farewell to the Farm, I still play regularly. A reaction one night at the open mic was a poignant reminder of the importance of letting an audience decide for themselves what a song is about.

For me, the song is pastoral and nostalgic, not a tear-jerker. Yet there were tears that night—a man, in his 60s. After the set, I asked him how the song had touched him so.

He said he used to be a farmer, but had lost his farm years ago. The song reminded him of his loss, his regret. Our conversation reminded me that whatever I might think a song is “about”, the audience—if I let them—discovers their own meaning.

Of course, it also helps to have great lyrics. Thank you, Robert Louis Stevenson. (mp3)