She Never Had to Preach

Lyrics by: Judy T. – Performed by suno

Because apparently reviewing my own music directly would be biased.

For the inaugural Nobody Asked Judy review, I have decided to review something completely reasonable:

My therapist’s reaction to a song I wrote.

More specifically, a song I wrote as a tribute to Dolly Parton’s life.

Now, obviously, I cannot simply review my own song. I wrote the damn thing. There may be a slight conflict of interest there.

So I needed independent testing.

Enter: my therapist.

The Methodology

I sent her the temporary YouTube link during our appointment.

Immediately, she furrowed her eyebrows while trying to figure out how to play the song without blasting it through our appointment.

Eventually, she muted herself.

This meant I couldn’t hear the song.

I couldn’t hear her.

All I had were her facial expressions.

Perfect.

I watched.

There were soft smiles.

There was crinkling around the eyes.

And then I noticed it:

Her nose started turning pink.

Oh.

Ohhhhh.

I know what that means.

I was yanking on the tear ducts.

And that was exactly the reaction I had hoped this song could produce.

Not because I wanted to make my therapist cry. I’m not a monster.

Okay, maybe a little.

But because I wanted to know whether someone could hear the lyrics and understand what I was trying to say. Whether the words could make someone feel something. Whether another person could hear the song and connect emotionally not only with the music, but with Dolly.

Watching her face, I knew.

She got it.

Then the Song Ended

We started talking about it.

She told me:

I had nailed it.

And then she sat back hard in her chair.

Folks, I don’t know what the official scientific measurement is for therapist physically propelled backward by your songwriting, but I’m counting it.

The experiment was complete.

The song did what I wanted it to do.

It made someone smile.

It tugged at the tear ducts.

It created an emotional connection.

And, most importantly to me, someone else heard the truth I was trying to put into the lyrics.

The NAJ Verdict

Ordinarily, Nobody Asked Judy has rules.

There is a rating system.

There are cans.

There is order.

Today we are ignoring all of that.

Because I wrote the song.

Official NAJ Rating: 12-Pack

Yes, I am fully aware that a full case does not exist in the NAJ Rating System.

I don’t care.

It’s my website.

It’s my rating system.

It’s my song.

And nobody asked Judy anyway.