Some Things Change Everything

I wrote this song back in December, which seems like a long time ago given the speed at which things change.

It arose in response to a significant health scare I had at the time. Everything turned out fine, but the experience got my attention.

We humans tend to seek control. We think we have it, or should have it, pretty much all the time. But life has other plans.

Serious diagnoses, sudden deaths, calamitous weather events, job losses, acts of violence, rejections, failed relationships, human errors, world-altering technologies, election of insane narcissists…the list goes on and on. Although we hate to admit it, much of life is completely beyond our control.

Our insistence that things go our way gets us into troubles large and small. Only intermittently can most of us drop the storyline of how things are “supposed” to go (The World According to Me) and simply be with the Is-ness of Everything.

Carl Jung said:

“To this day ‘God’ is the name by which I designate all things which cross my willful path violently and recklessly, all things which upset my subjective views, plans and intentions, and change the course of my life for better or for worse.”1

This isn’t the God of constant comfort, peace and beauty…but rather the God of Reality and Process, the What Is and the Happening.

As Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes:

“God is the Happening happening as all happening. Sometimes you like what is happening, so you call it ‘good.’ Sometimes you don’t like what is happening, so you call it ‘bad.’ Living with grace is being open to it all.”2

Here’s what happened last Tuesday. A dear friend died suddenly.

Over our 45 years of friendship, Warren and I talked a lot about life, how to make sense of it, and how we wanted it to go our way. (Okay, that was just me.)

One day. many years ago, after a long conversation in which I’m sure I was taking myself far too seriously, he turned to me matter-of-factly and said: “It all comes down to the Serenity Prayer.”

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

In memory of Warren Dunford - April 15, 1963 - April 14, 2026

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Some things change everything / For the bird, it’s a broken wing / For the snow, it’s an early Spring / Some things change everything / They alter the way you fly / how you’ll be in the by-and-by / Just when you’ve found your swing / some things change everything.

Such things come to me and you / no matter what things we do / They come knocking at our door / with what we’re not asking for / Sometimes you can change a few / Most, you’re just living through / turning and tumbling / Some things change everything.

Life deals you a wild card / when you like things the way they are / You don’t like to be surprised / you wish things were otherwise / But some days you come to find / life has something else in mind / Some strange new bells’ll ring / Something changed everything (Chorus)

Some things knock you off your feet / land you on Misfortune Street / There’s no reason to explain / if you feel that you’re off your game / ‘Cause things that take you off guard / it’s easy to take them hard / Can’t somebody do something / about everything?

Our ancestors long ago / well, they’d say “we told you so” / But we never listen well / Some truth only time will tell / ‘Til one day it comes to pass / our sand through the hourglass / ‘Til then may we rise and sing / let love change everything…

Such things come to me and you / no matter where or who / They come knocking at our door / with what we’re not asking for / Sometimes you can change a few / Most, you’re just living through / turning and tumbling / Some things change everything / Turning and tumbling…

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Praise for my new book:

“Songwriting as Soul Work: Songs and the Inner Life had me appreciating my original songs in an entirely new way. Truly unique, it is both a handbook and a guidebook for composers at every stage of their songwriting journeys from the novice to the consummate pro. […] Frees the writer to learn from the process and grow as a person. A five-star read that one can turn to for inspiration again and again.”

- Sheila White, songwriter/composer and choral director

Write to me if you’d like a review copy!