During last evening's sunset, I opened my sliding glass doors, stepped out onto my balcony and breathed in Summer's aroma. After admiring the pink, peach, gold and other colors in the sky, I noticed the fireflies near the ground, blinking and winking their tiny lights. How marvelous they are! It reminded me of another evening on the 4th of July a few years ago, when I fantasized that the fireflies were all jealous of the fireworks in my neighborhood.

If we dialed the "Way Back Machine" to 2005, you'd see me at the Monday night Open Mic at Jammin' Java where I played my songs regularly. At one of the dark, candle-lit tables I met a man who told me about his brother who was a street musician in Seattle. The brother made just enough money to eat and slept in a tiny studio apartment, very poor. But he is happy and "loves the life he leads". I remember the man I was speaking with say, "I guess it's all about freedom" and I agreed. I thought, "What a great song this would make!" and "It's All About Freedom" was born. It went through more editing than any other song I've ever written. I asked for feedback from every one of my friends, my mother (Masters degree in English), and the Songwriter's Association of Washington's meeting, The Songwriter's Exchange.

"It's All About Freedom" is not so much about our country's freedom, but more about personal freedom —"Time to do what you really want to do". Many people don't have that kind of freedom until they retire, and that now includes a lot of my friends. As for me, I don't plan to stop working. My response is, "Did Picasso retire? Has Mick Jagger retired?" Of course the answer is "No" when people like me are working at what they love!

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It's All About Freedom

words and music by Paige Powell      ©2007 Paige E. Powell

Saxophone performed by Steve Wolfe

1. Happy man, who’s a musician on the street

Just gets by, but he plays the music’s beat

Sings in the sunshine, and loves the life he leads

Won’t get rich, but that isn’t what he needs

Chorus:  It’s all about freedom

It’s all about having time

Time to do what you really want to do

It’s all about freedom

Having room to breathe

A way to fill your dreams that have their grip on you

It’s all about freedom

2. Office admin, who was a true artist at heart

She got laid off, and had to make a brand new start

Now she’s part time, but it’s enough to pay the rent

And she’s painting—that’s how her free time is spent (Chorus)

Bridge:  They say that hard work never kills

Paycheck to paycheck pays the bills

And though frustrations could explode

We’ll work for freedom down the road

3. Every week, a man worked lots of overtime

He commuted daily to the daily grind

Now retired, with a good 401K

Now he’s finally free for golfing every day

(Repeat Chorus 2x)