Music is love for me. Nothing in my life seems to strike more emotional responses than music. While out at lunch with one of my co-workers today, we heard "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)" by The Byrds. I instantly was reminded of my grandmother's funeral. That song was played during her funeral. But rather than make me sad, it made me smile as there was a rather amusing event that went along with it at the funeral. There was some confusion as to when the song was to be played, which lead to the minister getting confused and then there was this whole couple minutes of silence thing. More amusing was the fact that I don't think my grandma every actually heard that song.When I hear "We're not gonna take it" by Twisted Sister, I laugh because it reminds me of dancing around the living room as a kid (when mom wasn't watching of course). That was the first song that I learnt all the words to. "Dayo" by Harry Belafonte will always remind me of Saturday afternoons with my Gram and Chooch. My gram would put that record on (yes, record) and my brother and I would dance around the den with her and my grandpa and sing along. And it also remind me of the movie Beetlejuice. LOL.
Music provides a sound track to our lives. When I hear certain songs, they remind me of specific points in my life. Sometimes that's an awesome thing and sometimes it isn't. There are songs that I can't listen to anymore without getting angry or really sad. Thankfully, they are far and few between.
"Secret Smile" by Semisonic will always remind me of my first boyfriend. "Barbie Girl" by Aqua will always remind me of my first year of University and my friend Heather (she HATES that song LOL). "Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat will always remind me of high school dances (and Heather and Rose). Pretty much anything by Guns 'N Roses reminds me of my brother because he's the one who introduced them to me. "Everything to Everyone" by Everclear will always remind me of my first rock concert. I will always associate Bruce Sprinstein and Def Leopard with my mom and ZZ Top and Frank Zappa with my dad. Mom gets the Beatles too. She went to one of their concerts when she was younger. Has a bit of an amusing story to go along with it too. Something about not being able to hear the band over the screams of all the girls... LOL.
"Gone" by The Tea Party almost always makes me cry. I cried when I saw them play it live the first time, because it so connected with everything that was happening in my life at that point. "If I had a Million Dollars" by the Barenaked Ladies will always remind me of grade 9 and the charity auction they held where they auctioned off most of the items from that song.
I probably could gone on all night, reliving the soundtrack of my life but you get the point. Music is amazing. It moves us. It heals us. It motivates us. It's universal. All cultures have music as a part of them. I think we all have music in our souls. It connects us and helps us find the right words and emotions when we can't think of them ourselves. Music is almost as old as time itself. Just sit outside on a still night and or sunny afternoon and you'll discover that nature even has its own brand of music and its own soundtrack.
From Lullabies to Operas, Heavy Metal to Teen Pop, Country to Classical, Rock to Rap, music is simply amazing. And my life certainly wouldn't be the same without it.
Good Night!
Sarah
Rock On!
