Music Review // Rory Taillon "Reunions"

 

As soft acoustic guitar notes come in, Rory Taillon begins to sing along to form the song "Reunions".   As delicate as this song might seem in the music, it is also somewhat heavy in the weight of the words.   The opening lines to this song are: "We have no need for reunions if our childhood friends keep on dying / We can catch up at the next one just as long as the next one isn't mine"  This sets the tone for a somber song about the end and how life doesn't go on forever.

On one hand, this song would be good to listen to and to think about in a way if you're older and closer to that age when people start dying of natural causes.   The idea is that you wouldn't have to get together with your friends in other circumstances because you keep going to funerals and that also plays on the lyrics of "as long as the next one isn't mine", as the author might be close to that time as well based on age.

But as someone who is not nearing the end of their life by natural causes, when I hear this song I take it more as a way that people around us seem to be dying from drug overdoses, cancer, accidents and other various reasons which just feels like a lot.   In this day and age, you don't have to be old for those around you to be dying.   That, to me, plays into the idea that all of this is fleeting and so we should enjoy our time here while we have it.

Taking the idea of being a singer / song writer almost too literally, this song does tell a story if you can read into it enough.  The idea that we don't need reunions because of funerals, well, eventually when all of the funerals are had then you will likely be reunited one final time in death and whatever you believe comes in the afterlife.  Much like life and all that it brings, this song also comes full circle and as such you should listen to it as that reminder to keep going and cherish what you have.