With the untimely passing of Prince this week, many musicians have been interviewed as to how  he influenced their career and music. What I find most impressive, however, are the numerous lay people who are speaking out about how his lyrics and music impacted them.

During my senior year of high school, my parents were pressuring me to attend college locally and live at home. I knew I really wanted to go away to school and live in a dorm room, but felt very torn by my parents’ insistence. A close friend of mine was undergoing a similar struggle with her parents. At the same time McFadden and Whitehead released a song, “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” which became both mine and my friend’s personal mantra during that time.

We both choose to go away to school and defy our parents, and both know that it was the right choice for each of us. Every time, however,  I think of that time in my life and that choice, I hear that song in my head. And, if either me or my friend hear that song now on the radio, we will call the other just to say, “Guess what song I just heard?”

Have you ever felt influenced by a song or a musician? If so, in what way?