In case you are an extremely lucky soul and have never had to endure an ice breaker question, here are a few examples:
- Where would you retire to if you could retire today?
- What would you say is your proudest moment?
- What is something no one here knows about you?
- If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?
When asked one of these I usually shudder, sigh, and get ready to, well, just make something up. The answers aren't all that important because no one is really listening, no one will remember what I say, and, hey, no one actually cares.
But at that recent out of town work thing I was asked the most intrusive ice breaker question ever. The presenter said, "Tell us what your favorite song is. What song would you say defines you as a person?"
What?!? Seriously? Whoa, I did not see that one coming. My first thought was "No. I won't tell you that." Why? Because that is way too personal and too intimate a question to be asked by a complete stranger under fluorescent lights in a meeting room before lunch. That's information I would only be willing to share on my own terms and after much reflection. Around a campfire perhaps. Or maybe at a close friend's house by candlelight. While out in a canoe at twilight perchance. At any rate I'm sure that no matter the setting there would be adult beverages involved.
The moments passed. I half listened until it was my turn and then true to form I made something up. I tried to be clever and funny and I just made something up. Who cares anyway? Well, actually I care. I thought and thought about that question and I'm thinking about it still. Do I even have a favorite song? Is there a song that defines me? Gosh, I really love music and I have been listening and humming and singing along for more than half a century. What are my favorites?
Well, there's a Bob Dylan song entitled "Make You Feel My Love" from his 1997 Time Out of Mind album. You probably know it better as a popular Garth Brooks tune but you haven't lived until you hear Dylan rasp it. Billy Joel covered it. Adele sang it at the Royal Albert Hall in September of 2011 as a tribute to the late Amy Winehouse. I absolutely love the lyrics. Take a look at the first two verses:
When the rain is blowin' in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.
When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.
It just gets better from there. I love the melody as well and sometimes I play the song over and over when I'm driving in my car. This song has beauty and power and, yes, it's a favorite of mine. I do not own the rights or I would link you to the YouTube performances. Of course, you can Google them and play them on your own. Listen if you've never heard the song. Listen again if you have and tell me how I could have possibly conveyed the magic of "Make You Feel My Love" in my short, awkward ice breaker response. Yeah, that's why I didn't.
Well, that certainly is enough of a say for today but another contender for favorite song is Judy Collins' version of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" by Sandy Denny. A possible song that defines the youthful me in a goofy way is "Kind of A Drag by The Buckinghams from 1966. I'll be adding posts about those gems another day, so please subscribe to my blog and thanks for listening.
