“What’s cool about YouTube comments, especially in songs, is sometimes you find sweet stories. Love stories. Sad stories, happy stories. Cryers nonetheless. What I am here for.”

Not sure if you agree but it’s so true! This simple YouTube comment on a music video I was watching made me pause for a minute. I had noticed people were sharing anecdotes here and there on music videos, but this comment specially made me ponder and really look at the stories people were sharing beneath music videos. Not the casual “great song!” comments, but the raw, honest confessions and lovely memories that pour out when a song has carved itself into someone’s soul.

A mother who lost her oldest son, finding a reason to keep living through a song played by her husband. A combat medic’s father watching his son emerge from darkness after eight years, now helping other teens as a mental health nurse. A person driving down a hill one night in 1993, about to end it all, until a single line from a song made them pull over and choose life.

These aren’t just comments. They’re fragments of lives saved, changed, and understood through music. They’re proof that a song isn’t just a collection of notes and words – it’s a lighthouse in someone’s darkest night, a hand holding yours when you feel alone, a time machine to moments you thought were lost forever. What really fascinates me is that some of these commenters have such strong connections with these songs that they willingly share their stories publicly under the videos. They really want the world to know the kind of effect the song had on their lives!

These wonderful, powerful, mesmerizing, and uplifting personal stories are buried in the Never Never of YouTube comments – the last place you’d think of visiting to find deeply touching anecdotes that perhaps have been told nowhere else. And because these stories are buried in comments, they have not been shouted to the skies yet are declared to the universe. They reach the audience they are meant to impact, and there’s something beautiful and profound about that.

Here at Song Sanctuary, I am attempting to preserve these stories. Beginning with R.E.M., whose music has been a sanctuary for not just me but countless souls, I am building a home for these profound moments where songs became salvation. Every story here is a testament to music’s power to heal, to connect, to transform. This sanctuary is also meant to remind us that we all have interesting pasts, struggles, stories, wins & losses, heartbreaks, accomplishments, tragedies, and milestones. We have all faced a lot and continue to navigate through challenging times. Throughout this journey called life, we find solace, inspiration, courage, and joy from music.

This sanctuary hopefully also reminds us to celebrate each other for who we are, what we have become, and always be kind to each to other.

Somewhere, right now, someone is typing their story in a YouTube comment section, sharing how a song saved their life, mended their heart, or gave them courage to keep going. These stories deserve more than to be lost in an endless scroll of comments. They deserve a sanctuary.

Welcome to yours.

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