SwimFinsSF

Music in my Life

Another tid-bit about me. Music has always been a huge part of my life – whether performing or enjoying – and every so often I stumble into something that really touches me for whatever reason. You know – one of those songs that sparks an emotion or a memory every time you hear it. Mind you I’m not talking about the feeling you get when you hear ANY music – if you’re paying attention you should have a response to every song or the performer isn’t doing their job. I’m talking about that small selection of pieces that mean something to you personally. Some of ’em I don’t remember until I hear them – some of them I can always pick out. Here’s a few

• The Way it is – Bruce Hornsby and the Range: My high school English teacher made us listen this in class one day. Most of the class kind of rolled their eyes with this ‘what is that old man forcing on us’ but it caught my attention. It was probably the beginning of my starting to question and analyze what I saw in my life and was told rather than just accepting things. Read the lyrics if you haven’t – not super deep but at the time they struck me as pretty important.
  
• Somebody – Depeche Mode: I heard this for the first time in college and it probably got to me the same way it does most people. The song just seems to quantify a kind of deep desire that most everyone has in one form or another in a very nice way.. Still like it even now. (lyrics)
  
• Bolèro – Ravel: Bolero was one of my first examples of the nuances of classical music. This piece, performed well, shows all of the range and emotion that can go into well performed classical music and the talent required to deliver it. Done correctly you can barely tell the transition from intrument to instrument – all you notice is the building of layer upon layer until, before you know it, the orchestra is blowing your hair back.
  A Night on Bald Mountain – Moussorgsky: This is another piece that made me REALLY appreciate classical music – this time for the ability it has to tell a story. With this piece you can sit back, close your eyes, and listen as the composer tells you a story and the beautiful part is every person that hears it comes up with a slightly different image. Check out Fantasia if you want to see a visualization of Disney’s version of that story. STILL Love it!
  
• Beautiful – Christina Aguilera: When I first heard this song I kinda wrote it off as a nice and fun circuit song (yes – I heard it late one night at Club Universe).. But later I saw the video and listened to the words and got a lump in my throat. The message – as simple as it is – is something everyone should keep in mind. And the video with the anorexic girl, the two gay boys, the young kid, the transsexual, and the high school girls was FANTASTIC. (lyrics)
  

Y’all got any?

2 Comments to Music in my Life