In my opinion music is the most powerful entity there is. It has the ability to make you feel things you might have forgotten. You may not have even known you felt that way in the first place. I just know that I've found myself getting ready for work in the morning or I'm in my car listening to my iPod and a song will come on and I will literally feel the memory that is attached to it. And the amazing thing is that it has the memories can range anywhere from hilarious to heart-breaking. Everytime I hear the song "Still Rock'n'Roll To Me" by Billy Joel I picture one of my best friends Shrimp jumping around in her skinny jeans and screaming this song at the top of her lungs, knowing every single word. When I hear "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams I'm reminded of a time that makes me ache inside a little. And when I hear "Born to Fly" by Sarah Evans, I'm taken back to the day I realized I really had everything I'll ever really need in life.
Now, perhaps I'm an overly emotional person and that explains why I get attached to songs. But I really feel as though it's not just a personal collection of tunes that I'm attracted to. I honestly connect to almost everything I hear. En Vogue, The Kinks (that one's for you poppa), Matchbox 20, Dean Martin, Lady GaGa... any genre and almost any song, I just get it. And everything is usually better live. The atmosphere is palpable. It's something you can reach out and touch. And it leaves you in a state of euphoria.
Image courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johannacarlsson11/4770917393/
I'm also a real snob about lyrics. I dunno maybe it's the English Major in me. But I can't just sit there and let somebody sing the wrong lyrics - it is physically painful to me. I'm really working on that though - I promise. Not everybody has enough time to look up they words to the songs they hear on the radio on the way home, I know, I know.
In high school and college, I wrote a lot of non-fiction pieces. I went through a phase where I wrote a lot of poetry -- even took a poetry class as a junior in college (which I almost failed - apparently I'm not dark enough to be a true poet - fine by me) but throughout all of this, I really wanted to write lyrics. I know the dynamics of writing a good ballad... verse verse chorus verse chorus hook chorus.... but where does the actual music come in with that? My old man is in a band. Maybe he could give me a few pointers. (He tried to teach me how to play the drums, but all that went to hell when I realized I'm a much better air-percussionist than I am a drummer. It's an art, really.)
There's also something special about being the person to introduce someone to a song that they really enjoy. This happened recently with a band called The Temper Trap. I had my friend listen to a song or two of theirs, and she fell in love. It's almost reassuring to know that you really know somebody well enough that you can predict what they'll connect to. It's the same thing with books and movies - or even YouTube videos.
Me:"Dude, this video is so funny have you seen it yet?"
They watch.
Them: "That was the biggest waste of 45 seconds I've ever spent."
Alright I guess not YouTube videos. As stated in my previous post I have a tendency to think some things are hysterical that other people just stare at. Whatev.
But music... music I know.
And as I find out day after day, song after glorious song, music knows me all too well.
Image courtesy of: http://simplyinspiredbyyou.tumblr.com/post/682039949/by-anna-amphigorously-i-love-this
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