speaking through song

You can learn a lot about a person by the type of music they listen too. It’s been my experience that two people who like the same music usually have a lot more in common than just music. I remember when I was younger, I used to love sitting down with my CD collection and making mix tapes…this was before MP3’s and burning CD’s…the process was a delicate mixture of feeling, timing and patience. When I made a tape, depending on who it was for, I would often subconsciously try to say something by the songs and artists that I chose. I would take painstaking time to ‘build’ a layered rive rof music, maybe quiet at first…transitioning to a more chaotic feel…before winding things down. Often, the tapes were for me…a sort of personal history of my evolving tastes in music…the soundtrack of my life at that particular moment in time. I’ve made tapes for other people too, girls I was seeing or interested in seeing usually, but they never seemed to produce the resonance and response I intended. Was it them…or was it me?

Going back and listening to these tapes often brings back a flood of memories and feelings…like going back for a few brief moments and remembering the shy, introverted, unsure kid I was when I was 15, 16, 18 years old. Sometimes its painful…sometimes it brings a smile to my face that I can’t wipe away…and sometimes…

My mix tape days, it would seem, are over. The tape deck in my stereo doesn’t work anymore…and finding cassette tapes can be a real chore in this, the 21st century. I’ve dabbled here and there with burning CD’s…but its just not the same. However, thanks to blogging and other internet community sites, I’m still able to use music to say things that I am either too embarrassed, afraid or just can’t say with my own words. It may be less direct and a little cryptic…but sometimes I find that a particular song can really spell out how I’m feeling…so long as the people listening are really tuned in. Most people, unfortunately, aren’t. A song to say how much I care…a song to say how empty I feel…a song to say where I want to go…a song to ask why? There’s a song for every feeling…and a feeling for every song.

I’m not sure how many other people can use music like this…or choose to…but they’re out there…I’ve heard it with my own two ears. Sometimes a song can lift you up 1000 feet into the air…or crush you with the weight of an aircraft carrier. You can use music to tell someone to come closer…or to back away.

For some of us…music (and art) IS life.

“Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.” ~ Charlie Parker

“Music should never be harmless.” ~ Robbie Robertson

“Music is the vernacular of the human soul.” ~ Geoffrey Latham