Ode to Jingle Songhits

The thin newsprint pages cheap and slightly rough, A pocket-sized treasure, feeling just enough. Jingle Songhits, a name that brings a smile, A portal to lyrics for a little while. Remember thumbing through the index small and neat, Searching for the words, a melody to meet. The latest chart-toppers scribbled down with care, So you could sing along and feel the music there. No fancy websites, no instant online scroll, Just printed verses capturing the soul Of every heartbreak, every joyful soaring high, Beneath the scrutiny of a bedroom eye. Those simple chords suggested, a guitar's gentle strum, A hopeful guide for anyone who'd come To learn the basics and perhaps create their own, A bedroom ballad whispered and alone. The ads for local bands with grainy photos blurred, A glimpse into a scene, a sound that you had heard On crackling radio waves late into the night, Promising gigs and futures burning bright. We'd pore over the words dissecting every line, Trying to decipher feelings so divine, Or simply learn the chorus catchy and so sweet, To sing along with friends, out on the dusty street. Passed hand to hand, a well-loved dog-eared friend, Its pages marked with ink, that time could never mend. A snapshot of an era, a simpler, slower pace, Where lyrics held the magic in that small familiar space. Now streaming services offer every tune, But nothing matches that late afternoon, Spent lost within the pages of that humble little book, Jingle Songhits' echo in a nostalgic look. ©bfa040625