The Power of Music

[Thumper]

It's taken me some time to realize how powerful music is in my life. I guess I didn't realize it until it became apparent that the same wasn't true of others. I don't think I necessarily have eclectic, complicated, or otherwise high end tastes. It's just that music is always in my life and always in my head. So I realize it's important to others, and I feel bad when I'm either not familiar with music references here or don't take the time to find out more about them. But I guess it's what moves you, it doesn't matter if it doesn't move me.

So I absolutely love live music. I love the show, I love the production, I love the behind the scenes work that make everything work. But then, if I'm lucky, I get the music. Something that's indescribable. I'll have my moment, where I realize how stupidly lucky I am to even be standing there having the time of my life. With tears flowing down my face, I pay a quick homage to friends that are gone and will never get to feel again what I'm feeling at that moment, as the music moves through me.

Last night was perfect: intimate venue, ridiculous 2 and 3 part harmonies, and as always, Love the drummer: Love the band.

[Swift]

Yes

[pumpkinpi]

Music was such a powerful force in my life, starting about when I was 8, ramping up when I was 10, and really peaking through my adolescent years. I listened to my parents' favorite records even before age 8--Simon and Garfunkel, Beach Boys' Endless Summer, The Beatles White Album. I listened to their 45's while roller skating in my basement. (Yes, basement. It was about 60' long with cement floors.) Leader of the Pack, Sugar Sugar, I Want to Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There, more Beach Boys.....

My first records were Born in the USA, Cyndi Lauper, Thriller......

The memories starting around age 10 get particularly strong. Many songs I hear now, I can place exactly where I was when I listened it, and it evokes the feeling I had at the time. Rock Steady. The Beastie Boys' License to Ill. (I had no idea what most of the lyrics meant at the time!)

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that a lot of the association had to do with boys. I had a log of big crushes in my early teens, and would ascribe certain lines of certain current songs to my feelings for them. One particularly strong one is from The Little Mermaid, Kiss the Girl. The movie came out not long before I started dating my first serious boyfriend and somehow that song fit what I felt. And right now Russter is on a Little Mermaid kick, so that scene always gives me a smile.

I can't believe how well I remember so many songs that were popular in those early teen years. The other day I woke up with Toy Soldier by Markita in my head. "Step by step, heart to heart, we all fall down. Like a toy soldier." I probably have not heard it since I was 14.

The "love song" association continued to remain strong through college. Let's see, what can I remember now. We had a trend on our dormitory floor of writing selected lines from songs on white boards hanging on our doors. So when those songs come on the radio I can "see" those lines and sometimes remember when I wrote them.

Peter Gabriel and Paula Cole came to me at a time in college when I was feeling pretty lost, mostly academically. Don't Give up and Me, respectively.

In my 20's, I was searching for my husband. Jewel's "This Way" sticks out as one I was listening to around the time I met MrPi.

On the flip side, I was in concert band, marching band, orchestra, and jazz band; tap, ballet, jazz, pom pon. So performance runs through my blood, too. I love when I hear a song on the radio that I played. Even if I don't remember the name or composer, my fingers can sometimes still move along with my part.
When a song I danced to comes on, often I can remember some of the moves. Whip It. Tainted Love. Summer of 69. Goin' to the Chapel. If. Let's Get Ready to Rumble. I can even remember the words to songs from my earliest dance recital. Ok, I've got to do it. I'm going to "sing" them now for you.
Oh we are the rays of sunshine, and our home is in the Sun. All of our days are sunny, and we have lots of fun.
Ballet recital, Kindergarten.
I am #1. Yes I am the best. I am #1. Because I passed the test. I am #1. I am the tops you see. If you don't believe me, then put your eyes on me! (I could go on).
Tap recital, 1st or 2nd grade.

Jazz band was my biggest love. But the really strange thing--I have never gotten a lot of enjoyment out of listening to recorded music. It had to be live. Every now and then I would get a cd of a particularly talented musician and I would listen a lot, especially if it was one I had seen in concert. But just turning on the radio to a jazz station or listening to a cd someone got me usually bores me.
The best concerts I've been to--that have moved me to tears--were by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. I've seen him 6-7 times. OMG, if you ever get a chance to see him, go, and sit close to the front!


So what now? In the past decade plus, music has lost some of its meaning and enjoyment. On long drives, I prefer NPR or audiobooks. I don't buy a lot of new cds or bring out old ones. I guess maybe it's because I have a very happy life and I'm not searching for that meaning, or hoping that the lyrics will give me answers to something I'm lacking. I remember watching a concert on MTV by the lead singer of Matchbox 20. It was one of those "Storytellers," when the artist talks about the songwriting process. He said he gets asked why so many of his songs are about sad topics. His response is that when life is good, you go out and celebrate. When it's tough, you go home and wallow, and then have the time to write songs. I guess that applies to how I listen.

But like you, Thumper, there is ALWAYS a line or small part of a song in my head. Maybe from a kids' movie. [at the moment: Let's Make a Rainbow from Care Bears. Ugh.] Maybe from something I heard on the radio or that MrPI plays. (He always listens--rock in the car, classical at home. He has good taste so I get my exposure to good music with him.) Maybe something that I haven't heard or thought of in 20 years. But there is always one there. It happens for my kids, too. For years Buster has gone around singing the same line from a song over and over, just blurted out randomly over the course of the day. He doesn't yet have the filter to keep it in. But he gets angry when I try to sing my earworm! Russter has started doing that, too. I love listening to them sing.

Writing this post was an exercise for me. If any of you made it this far, thanks. But I don't care if nobody does.
And Thumper thanks for starting the thread.

[Thumper]

(Pumpkinpi's awesome most excellent post)

First thought: Man you're young.
So many of the experiences you wrote about (I read and enjoyed every word) were very similar to mine. Mrs. T and I (back when she was Miss D) used to write letters and notes to each other all the time with song lyrics quoted. I'd get her albums (yes vinyl) just so she'd listen to the lyrics of one song that moved me. And a song or a lyric will be a memory trigger of some event in my life. Or take me back to a certain time period when I was feeling a certain way.

Until recently, I spent a great deal of time on the road for my job. Unfortunately, the mainstream commercial radio limited playlists eventually bored the crap out of me and I started not liking songs I used to love. I would crave to hear a song I hadn't heard before or at least hadn't heard on the radio. So I switched to NPR and other talk radio. That's probably why, like you, I love to hear music performed live.

I love that The Kid is very into music. She's currently in Concert Band, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Jazz Improv and two singing choirs. That she loves some of the same bands as I (we) do, is an amazing feeling. Taking her to concerts where she loves the band as much as we do. And she's also developed her own musical tastes and has turned me on to new music. And don't get me started about listening to her and her Mom harmonize together. Last spring and summer were very tough for her, she lost two friends. The music she listened to (constantly) reflected her sadness and loss. But it helps you through, it always has.

I'm trying to branch out. I'm enjoying jazz now but can't really tell you which kinds or flavors I prefer, still learning. Also really gaining an appreciation for big band music with lots of horns. We went to see a great local 17 piece big band just last week. Three generations of us all enjoying some great sounds.

I guess my only regret is I didn't play myself. I can bang away decently on a kit and strum some basic guitar chords, but I didn't take any music classes or perform in school. I'm a frustrated non musician. But in a way, that makes my appreciation for it even greater. It's like magic to hear and see people play.

It's always there, if there's not a song in my head, I've apparently stopped breathing.

[geonuc]

Thumper, Pumpkin: I think your love of music is great and it makes me envious of those with musical talent.

[squ1d]

Since I finally got the piano last year, instead of gradually declining, my interest has steadily ramped up. I manage to get about an hour a day practice in. As a teenager I played geetar and drums and was in a couple of lame bands, but since my "career", personal musical pursuits were abandoned. But now it is back with a vengeance. Although as my Piano teacher tells me, you can't make up for lost time so just enjoy yourself. I have nearly worked out the kinks in Bach Prelude 9 from WTC I, I have modest ability so I am genuinely surprised to be playing something mildly polyphonic so soon. Invention 1 in C next!

[Thumper]

You go!

[pumpkinpi]

I've learned that music is in the soul of Colombians. We always had some sort of music playing in our social times (and some work times) and they would all sing along and dance. Most of them play instruments, too. It seems to be much more prevalent in their lives than hours. And it's much more social and less personal, as we've been talking about it here. I'm sure they each have their own personal attachments but I only saw how it is in the social context.

Great music. I am looking for a Latino music radio station--I miss their songs already!

[Thumper]

Great music. I am looking for a Latino music radio station--I miss their songs already!

I dialed up "I Heart Radio" and did a search for "Latino" and several commercial radio stations came up as well as some playlists. I don't have any idea what "flavor" these would be. My only experience with the service is to stream some radio stations at my desk at work. There's also "Spotify" but that may be a pay service.

[pumpkinpi]

Great music. I am looking for a Latino music radio station--I miss their songs already!

I dialed up "I Heart Radio" and did a search for "Latino" and several commercial radio stations came up as well as some playlists. I don't have any idea what "flavor" these would be. My only experience with the service is to stream some radio stations at my desk at work. There's also "Spotify" but that may be a pay service.

Yup, I've not got Salsa Colombio on Pandora.

[Swift]

My wife said something interesting to me the other day.

John Fogerty is coming to Cleveland in July and I really wanted to get tickets (which we did!). She said something along the lines of "you're really a lot more into music than I am". I guess I am. I'm no kind of musician, but I love music. It has such a strong connection to my emotional state and my memories and my life.

[geonuc]

My wife said something interesting to me the other day.

John Fogerty is coming to Cleveland in July and I really wanted to get tickets (which we did!). She said something along the lines of "you're really a lot more into music than I am". I guess I am. I'm no kind of musician, but I love music. It has such a strong connection to my emotional state and my memories and my life.

I'll go with you if she doesn't want to!

[Swift]

My wife said something interesting to me the other day.

John Fogerty is coming to Cleveland in July and I really wanted to get tickets (which we did!). She said something along the lines of "you're really a lot more into music than I am". I guess I am. I'm no kind of musician, but I love music. It has such a strong connection to my emotional state and my memories and my life.

I'll go with you if she doesn't want to!

Thanks for the date suggestion, but I think she's coming.

Her first reaction was along the lines of "do I know any song by John Fogerty?", so I pulled out my "best of" CD and she was like "Oh, I remember that one". Within two songs she was dancing around the living room.

By the time we get close to the concert she won't recall any songs, but then she'll have fun at the concert. As I said, she just doesn't live and breath music.

Good thing I'm posting this, it reminds me I have to play "Centerfield" tomorrow on the way to work (season opener day) or the Indians won't win the World Series.

[Thumper]

I'm no kind of musician, but I love music. It has such a strong connection to my emotional state and my memories and my life.

That's pretty much what I was thinking when I decided to start this thread.

...it reminds me I have to play "Centerfield" tomorrow on the way to work (season opener day) or the Indians won't win the World Series.

So that works, then?

Had another great musical experience Saturday. Almost didn't have it. But made it to a small club where a regional blues/rock band out of Chicago was playing. A couple years ago, one of our favorite guitarists from our favorite Indianapolis band joined up with these guys and they're quietly touring the world. We got to speak with him before and after the show, he remembered us from Indy, and was very thankful and appreciative of our support. And man, I forgot how good he is.

[Parrothead]

Tempted to check out ticket prices at Casino Niagara, start of June. Boston playing two nights, followed by two nights of John Kay and Steppenwolf.

Love music, all kinds. I written/mentioned the Song Festivals held in Estonia, every 5 years or so. Powerful when you get combined choirs numbering 25k singers, singing to a crowd of a few 100k people.

[Parrothead]

My music tastes are all over the place. The 80's were my h.s. and university years, so much of my fave stuff is from that decade (late 70s early 80's - punk/post-punk/ new wave). Lately, I've been filling in some earlier gaps. My most recent purchases were two 2 CD sets. One "The Essential ELO" contains 37 songs, the other "The Essential 1970's" a mix of stuff from that decade. Needless to say the term "essential" likely refers to what songs the label putting the set out, has the rights to. It was nice to hear Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" for the first time again, in ages. Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" followed by Bay City Rollers "Saturday Night", lol. My CD collection (somewhere between 400-500 CDs total) ranges from some opera/classical, to a couple of musicals, big band, jazz, blues, ska, r&b, rock, etc.

Saturday nights I listen to Danny Marks hosting "bluzfm" on jazzfm, 8pm - midnight. Afterwards I switch over to an am station, where they have "all-night jukebox" which has reminded me of a number of songs, I had completely forgotten about. This station mainly plays pop from the 50s through 80's. I may have to finally breakdown and open an iTunes account, to get a number of singles. LOL, a month ago I heard "Let Your Love Flow" for the first time in I don't know how long. I thought it might be BJ Thomas, a search revealed it was The Bellamy Brothers. I could ramble on, but won't right now. Cheers.

[Thumper]

I loved ELO as a kid. It was really exciting when The Kid "discovered" ELO at about the same age I did. Another thing we get to share. Wow, we can hear Frankenstein, Play that Funky Music, and a myriad of classic rock at any time on the plethora of Robo-classic stations around here. And how I love hearing "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting" at 5:45 on a Tuesday morning. One station around here must play "Bohemian Rhapsody" about 4 times per day...every day.

AM radio?? They still have that?

[Parrothead]

LOL! yup they still have am radio. It's where I mostly listen to talk radio and OTR. Yeah, I should tune into a classic rock station, more often.