Quotes of the Day:
Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends. ~Alphonse de Lamartine
Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. ~Ronald Reagan
~Quotes from quotegarden.com
Song of the Day:
"Alligator Sky" by Owl City, featuring Shawn Chrystopher
Freshman year of high school, I somehow stumbled through without music. Oh, sure, I heard a song every now and then, but it was only in passing. Listening was a passive act in those dark days. Then, that summer, I was immersed in the true meaning of music. Symphonies, concerts, operas, musicals, and sweet, sporadic strings of a melodies strummed on guitars permeated my head almost every second of the day. Even after I lay in bed, sweating the hot summer nights away, the notes from my neighbor's tinny old radio floated lazily into my dreams. After returning to our house for the school year, I knew something was missing. It only took me a few days to realize: the music was quieter. Oh, it was still there all right, but I had to make an effort to hear it through the craziness of everyday life. The difference was that I wanted to, and after that magical summer, I desperately did. So I haunted iTunes for days, dusted off my iPod, played the radio constantly, and took recommendations for new songs. And before you knew it, I was hooked again to that indescribable feeling of hearing your exact emotion played out before you in song. You ever listen to a song and come away shocked because the artist has completely summed up how you're feeling in the lyrics? That happens to me at least once a week. I constantly find myself scribbling lyrics to songs on the sides of my notes, and without meaning to, I realized I've made a personal connection that cannot be broken to that song. The notes are woven together and immersed in my brain, the words sinking in and imprinting themselves on my everyday life. True magic, for me, is stumbling upon an artist or song who can perfectly sum up every little feeling and put it to a gorgeous melody.
Today, my iTunes library has almost 1500 items in it. Though it would take me, according to iTunes, 3.8 days to listen to all of those songs, it's comforting for me to know that, when the occasion arises, those songs (most of which I love) will be there to play back to me exactly what I'm feeling. I have playlists for just about everything you can imagine: some are situation playlists (see "Single? I call it free" and "Window down, hair blowing, sunglasses on, music jamming") and others are emotion playlists (see "Here's me looking away from you towards all the other adventures out there" and "Sad. Sorry."). Describe an emotion to me, and I have a song for it. Every song holds a little pearl of advice, a thread of emotional carthasis, and a way through whatever challenge you face. I don't believe in not buying a song because it's unpopular or because other people don't respect the artist. Music is not only a gift, but a lifestyle. Why let someone else control that? Life's too short to listen to crappy music. Don't just buy the Top 40 songs to be up to date; but conversely, don't not buy Top 40 music if you like it. There's nothing wrong with an Usher song! I like the pumpy, make me want to dance like crazy, feel from that kind of music. But there's also nothing wrong with a song by your favorite band no one's ever heard of. I'm getting on a tangent, so I'll keep it short and simple:
Music can change your life. All you have to do is let it play.
I'll leave you with that and a few song suggestions and quotes. In addition, I'm adding a song of the moment section to every post, so keep looking back for that!
"Don't look before you laugh, look ugly in a photograph." ~U2, City of Blinding Lights
"Sit up on the hill and watch the sun go down, when the fireflies are dancing and the moon comes out, we can turn on the lights and head back to the house, or we can take another ride on my big green tractor..." ~Jason Aldean, Big Green Tractor
"But hold your breath, because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you, over again, don't make me change my mind. I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true. Because a girl like you is impossible to find, you're impossible to find." ~Secondhand Serenade, Fall for You
