Come quick! The monkey is wrenching!!
I realize the last thing we may need is another band with another website with another philosophizing blog…but I am consistently amazed at the power and communication of music. And certainly during these times, of people passionately protesting tyrants while helicopters fire on them, it’s ability to heal and bring some comfort. Everyone has a song that on some certain day it rings differently to you, like scripture, you hear your own thoughts echoed in the words or melody. You can picture yourself within it and, although it seems like an overused term, you can relate to it and it gives a voice to some inner struggle that needed a vehicle to get out. The terrestrial radio planet thing-a-ma-jigs aligned to put you in the car, with that song playing, on the day you needed it most. (Substitute the archaic term “radio” with your current legal or otherwise form of hearing music)
Songs still make me cry. Nearly more than anything else. Although “Secretariat” might have brought a sniffle…not much…you know, I mean…it’s not like guys cry at movies…(ahem-cough) …see that Bear’s game?
Songs and…stories… The two make beautiful companions or can stand on their own. Listen to Dylan if you need a reminder of how they can be the melodic equivalent of chocolate and vanilla. Mmmm, good stories. From your neighbor or barista, people from different cities, states, countries, who have different beliefs, all have some great stories to tell. I think the older you get, the more important stories are and the ‘listening to’ of stories gets. When I would rather hear my grandpa talk about hanging off the side of a ski lift 50 feet in the air, or my dad recalling his rodeo days, I know I’m getting older. I already pause longer in the tool section of Walmart.
“Ooo…that’s a good deal on that Skil saw.”
Yikes…I try to shake it off.
History, sharing, relationships and learning… Sometimes the best teachers can be someone right next to you. You just never asked them. So tell stories, but more importantly listen.
-jared
