Kenny Rogers was a skilled and masterful song writer

 That's quite a hot take I know, but I just have to say it.  It's true. Kenny Rogers was a highly talented artist who had a special gift for writing songs. He had that spark, that indelible flair for crafting songs that entertain and uplift generations upon generations of people from all walks of life. A true master of his craft if there ever was one.

I know a lot of creaky old boomers and various music nerds will read that line above and maybe respond with "WELL NO BIDOY! I've known that that since his work with the First Edition! I know what condition his condition was in! It's like common knowledge, man! Where have you been? Are ya deef and dum maybe?! What's the big idea?? Why I oughta........."

Whoa whoa whoa!  Calm down there you hyper hypothetical. Yes, I'm quite aware of how famous and well established he was in his lifetime. He had multiple selling albums and many hit songs to his name.  I know that full well.

However, my assessment of Kenny Rogers' music right now is not based on the usual criteria.  I'm not going by how many fans he has or any number of album sales.  I don't care about any sold out concert performances at all.  I'm definitely not going to use any measures or charts that musicologists use to over analyze a song to see if it follows a proper wave pattern or whatnot.  No, I am not using any method used by any of the most obsessed music nerd you can name.  My assessment of Kenny Rogers is based on my son Avery.

A most discerning connoisseur.

I'll explain.  One fine day, not long ago, I was given the task to keep my son occupied so my wife could cook either a breakfast or lunch.  I remembered that there are several episodes of the original Muppet Show on Disney+ so I decided to check that out.  Yes, you guessed it, I selected the episode with Kenny Rogers in it.  I can't quite recall why I chose that particular show, but I'm glad I did.

I already knew that my son loves any show with music in it and I was also very familiar with the Muppets' proclivity to burst into song at any given notice (I was indeed a big fan of the Muppets back when they were originally on the air).  So, I figured he'd enjoy that.  Being that he's only a few months old, some parts of the show entertained him but other parts scared him.  I guess Jim Henson was a little TOO ambitious with his creations sometimes.

However, Avery's fear completely melted away when Kenny Rogers sang the final song of the show.  He just grabbed his guitar and softly played Love Lifted Me.  My son's reaction to that song is probably the most precious thing I'll ever witness.  That song makes him sad and happy at the same time.  It's difficult to describe, but that's how it looked to me.

Keep in mind that this is a months old baby.  Lyrics mean nothing to him.  They all just sound like babble babble babble to him.  My son reacted to pure melody.  That's the mark of a good song writer, really.  If just the melody or the hook can reach a person right in the soul, songs can't get any better than that.

Even though Kenny Rogers left us back in 2020, I'm sure he's happy to know that he just got a new fan in my son.  Here's a drawing I made of the two of them enjoying each others' company:

That's all I wanted to say with this post.  I just wanted to let everyone know that Kenny still inspires people and probably will for generations to come.  For those woefully unfamiliar with Kenny Rogers' Love Lifted Me song, I'll embed a video of him singing that song on The Muppet Show, the very same version of that song which delighted my son.  Show this clip to brighten the day of other people in your life.  Enjoy!