I stare into the waves.
I ask them to calm down and behave.
Everything in life tastes sweeter,
when you slow it down.

I suspect many of my readers can relate to the opening verse of Tony Mena’s song, “I Felt the Earth Spin Today”, but when you learn a little bit more about Tony, these words have even greater meaning.

His bio reads:

Tony Mena began learning the piano at the age of 12 with encouragement from his parents. At the age of 14 he gave up the piano and focused on high school athletics.After 9/11 he joined the military and entered the Special Operations community with the Reconnaissance Marines. At the age of 24 he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and began re-learning to play the piano after buying a small keyboard.

During his tour in Iraq, his musical skills were needed by his Battalion and he played the piano for four separate funeral services. During the downtime between missions in Iraq, he began learning how to play the acoustic guitar with the help and instruction of several members of his platoon.

Tony Mena received a Navy Achievement Medal with a V for Valor for multiple acts of bravery while under fire in Iraq. Upon completion of his military service, he attended the University of Missouri where he surrounded himself with music and poetry as a means of dealing with many of the events he experienced in war.

When I first saw Tony’s submission on Sonicbids I wanted to put up a review right away. Then I thought about holding it off until this week. Thursday is Veteran’s Day and if you want to thank a vet, a good way to start is by going out, seriously listening to some of Tony’s music and sharing it with friends. It is that good. It is that powerful.

“I Felt the Earth Spin Today” continues with

I felt the earth spin today
and it was beautiful.

See the world,
through my bright eyes.

Not only are the lyrics beautiful, but the guitar playing is solid, the melodies haunting and tied together with great singing.

As a final tribute, please watch and listen to this Youtube video:

If you check out the notes below, you will find that Saturday was the fourth anniversary of the death of Kyle Powell and Jose Galvan who were Killed In Action in Iraq.

Please, remember Kyle and Jose this Veteran’s Day. Please think about Tony who has taken his experiences to create beautiful music and poetry, and please think about all the veterans that are back in the States today living with injuries visible, and invisible.