Behind the Lyrics. Beyond the Beat. The Fast-track to my soul.
If the soundtrack to my life were on sale at Musica, I'll bet that most people would turn the cd over, scroll through the list of songs, shake their heads and move along.
Music does something radical to me. I can't always explain it, but it wriggles its way through my skin and settles down right in the core of me. From there, the beat permeates every pore in my skin, the melody rises out of the top of my head, like steam off of a cappuccino, and the lyrics dance through my brain. It really is quite something to experience.
I can't really explain, with enough clarity, why some songs hit me like and unknowing kid speeding around the corner-right in the stomach. They just do something to me. I ask a lot of people what they would rather be- blind or deaf? Most people say deaf, so that they can at least still see their kids grow up, see their loved ones without having to remember what they were like. But then I think, what would life be without any music? To me, listening to music creates more images in my mind than seeing ever could.
Think about how a certain smell can literally transport you back into a time or to a place, recreating a memory so vividly in your mind. The smell of paraffin takes me straight back to times at our holiday cottage, before we installed electricity. The smell of petrol? I'm back on the Vaal dam, on one of Barry Kelly's speed-boats, terrified of water skiing. Music, for me, is a lot like that. I simply need to close my eyes, let the first few beats start shimmying their way into my ears, and I am back in certain era's of my life.
More to the point, different albums and different artists have helped me through certain rough patches. Songs about Jane by Maroon Five was my therapy after my first love (The Showjumper) broke my heart so solidly, I didn't think I would ever recover. Camino Palmero by The Calling ( and in particular, Adrienne) when The Bartender left me for his ex...on April Fools day. Faithless reminds me of falling in love, Goldfish makes me re-live the contentment of remaining in love and Plush transports me to a time of suffering and self-discovery.
Of course there are those songs that represent all the wild parties I had in my varsity day, ('Let's go to a rave and behave like we're tripping...'), the New Years eves, the Christmas holidays, certain sunday mornings at home or nights spent around the dinner table with my family ( Vivaldie).
My love for music doesn't stop at pop, or house music, soft rock or heavy metal. Classical music does something powerful for me too. This could be due to the fact that I'm a classically trained pianist, no? It's kind of like being on a train with lots of different carts. In one cabin, ( deep house) there are stylish, good looking people, nodding their heads and dipping their shoulders to the rhythm of the music. A short walk away, in the next cabin where pop music lives for me, it's a party bus. Students are funneling down beer, and swinging back shooters. Through the next door, classical music seeps through plush velvet couches and worn leather chairs, while an eclectic mix of listeners sit with a far away look in their eyes. 'The last cart?' you may ask. That's the one where we are all at an open air concert, standing on upside-down plastic cups, trying to get a better view of the live act just out of our reach... the base music making the grass grow at three times the pace. Music for me is not something I can define, and put into certain boxes, neatly filed away. It just is. It just does.
And for those of you, the ones who share my views on how music can embrace our souls, you will also understand that most of the reasons why we love a certain song, why we appreciate different artists and identify with particular sets of lyrics, is beyond articulation. The live version of Fix You by Coldplay is a truly awesome song. A power song, some may say, that gets right down deep into the emotions. Listen to it. You won't need much more of an explanation than that- the goosebumps on your skin will tell the story.
Tears stream, down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream, down your face, I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Light will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.
Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
By now, you should have somehow realised what you've got to do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.
Adrienne- I thought I knew you. But once again, you used me.
Adreinne- I should have left you long before you used me up.
And how long has it been since someone you let in has given what I gave to you
And at night, when you sleep, do you dream I would be there-just for a minute or two?
You are never coming back to me. That's not how things were supposed to be.
You take my hand just to give it back. No other lover has ever done that.
When I kiss you, I'm never sure- How do I get to miss you less and see you more?
Go and get your i-pods fixed. Dust off your ear-phones and crank up the volume. Everything else can wait a while-The train is waiting to leave the station. You bring the funnel and your broken hearts. I have the plastic cups... we'll be able to see just fine from up there.
Music does something radical to me. I can't always explain it, but it wriggles its way through my skin and settles down right in the core of me. From there, the beat permeates every pore in my skin, the melody rises out of the top of my head, like steam off of a cappuccino, and the lyrics dance through my brain. It really is quite something to experience.
I can't really explain, with enough clarity, why some songs hit me like and unknowing kid speeding around the corner-right in the stomach. They just do something to me. I ask a lot of people what they would rather be- blind or deaf? Most people say deaf, so that they can at least still see their kids grow up, see their loved ones without having to remember what they were like. But then I think, what would life be without any music? To me, listening to music creates more images in my mind than seeing ever could.
Think about how a certain smell can literally transport you back into a time or to a place, recreating a memory so vividly in your mind. The smell of paraffin takes me straight back to times at our holiday cottage, before we installed electricity. The smell of petrol? I'm back on the Vaal dam, on one of Barry Kelly's speed-boats, terrified of water skiing. Music, for me, is a lot like that. I simply need to close my eyes, let the first few beats start shimmying their way into my ears, and I am back in certain era's of my life.
More to the point, different albums and different artists have helped me through certain rough patches. Songs about Jane by Maroon Five was my therapy after my first love (The Showjumper) broke my heart so solidly, I didn't think I would ever recover. Camino Palmero by The Calling ( and in particular, Adrienne) when The Bartender left me for his ex...on April Fools day. Faithless reminds me of falling in love, Goldfish makes me re-live the contentment of remaining in love and Plush transports me to a time of suffering and self-discovery.
Of course there are those songs that represent all the wild parties I had in my varsity day, ('Let's go to a rave and behave like we're tripping...'), the New Years eves, the Christmas holidays, certain sunday mornings at home or nights spent around the dinner table with my family ( Vivaldie).
My love for music doesn't stop at pop, or house music, soft rock or heavy metal. Classical music does something powerful for me too. This could be due to the fact that I'm a classically trained pianist, no? It's kind of like being on a train with lots of different carts. In one cabin, ( deep house) there are stylish, good looking people, nodding their heads and dipping their shoulders to the rhythm of the music. A short walk away, in the next cabin where pop music lives for me, it's a party bus. Students are funneling down beer, and swinging back shooters. Through the next door, classical music seeps through plush velvet couches and worn leather chairs, while an eclectic mix of listeners sit with a far away look in their eyes. 'The last cart?' you may ask. That's the one where we are all at an open air concert, standing on upside-down plastic cups, trying to get a better view of the live act just out of our reach... the base music making the grass grow at three times the pace. Music for me is not something I can define, and put into certain boxes, neatly filed away. It just is. It just does.
And for those of you, the ones who share my views on how music can embrace our souls, you will also understand that most of the reasons why we love a certain song, why we appreciate different artists and identify with particular sets of lyrics, is beyond articulation. The live version of Fix You by Coldplay is a truly awesome song. A power song, some may say, that gets right down deep into the emotions. Listen to it. You won't need much more of an explanation than that- the goosebumps on your skin will tell the story.
Tears stream, down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream, down your face, I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Light will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.
Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you
By now, you should have somehow realised what you've got to do
I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.
Adrienne- I thought I knew you. But once again, you used me.
Adreinne- I should have left you long before you used me up.
And how long has it been since someone you let in has given what I gave to you
And at night, when you sleep, do you dream I would be there-just for a minute or two?
You are never coming back to me. That's not how things were supposed to be.
You take my hand just to give it back. No other lover has ever done that.
When I kiss you, I'm never sure- How do I get to miss you less and see you more?
Go and get your i-pods fixed. Dust off your ear-phones and crank up the volume. Everything else can wait a while-The train is waiting to leave the station. You bring the funnel and your broken hearts. I have the plastic cups... we'll be able to see just fine from up there.
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