The Perfect Song
April 6, 2009
We had the opportunity a few weeks ago to see one of the outstanding singer-songwriters of our time. Unfortunately, you’ve probably never heard of her: Jana Stanfield.
Her recordings are intricate, relevant, and upbeat. And in concert, you get to hear the full range of her voice, which isn’t done justice by a CD and a set of speakers. Plus, she’s incredibly funny, which makes the whole experience even more enjoyable. In the concert we attended, she was one of four artists who took turns presenting songs to the audience, each feeding off of what the other had just done – kind of a musical version of “Whose Line is It Anyway.”
At one point, after Jana had just finished singing “If I Had Only Known” – a song recorded and made famous by Reba McEntire, the audience just sat there dumbstruck for about five seconds before starting to applaud wildly and giving her a spontaneous standing ovation.
Then it was Daniel Nahmod’s turn to select a song to play. He had been fantastic during the concert, but after that song, he had a “deer in the headlights” look on his face, and said to the audience, “Wow, how do you follow something like that?”
He then turned to Jana and said, “That is a perfect song in so many different ways, I can’t even begin to explain it.” He gave a couple of “technical” examples of what he was talking about in terms of songwriting, musicianship, and delivery, and asked Jana a few questions about what inspired her to write the song.
He was right, by the way, the song was incredible, and Jana’s voice is even better now than when we were blown away listening to her for the first time at a National Speakers Association meeting in San Francisco, back in 1995.
Do you have a “perfect song?” Is there something you do at work, with your family, or with a hobby that brings everything into perfect focus for you? You may not be up on stage performing it for all to see, but make a serious effort to find your “perfect song” in whatever you do, and you’ll see the impact it has on everyone around you.
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We (Unity Spiritual Life Center) were so excited to sponsor this concert … and appreciated your story so much! In fact, something else really struck me as I listened to Daniel comment on Jana’s song, as one more “take away” that applies to business success: Never let ego get in the way! It was so impressive to me that Daniel, who is such a brilliant performer, was so respectful and complimentary of another professional singer — rather than trying to “one-up” or bash her, he instead helped her look even better in the eyes of the audience — which as a result, made him look even better, too! We can only grow better in the eyes of our customers when we are willing to acknowledge the strengths of our colleagues (a.k.a. competitors). Daniel demonstrated that in an amazing way!