Music

Many of you don't know this, but I have a secret passion for music. O'k, o'k, who doesn't right? Agreed. Music is one of those things, I don't know anyone who doesn't like it. Add me to the masses. I tend to fall in love with songs obsessively, which HAS to be annoying for my roommates. One of THE biggest sacrifices about serving a mission was that I couldn't listen to the radio. The day I was released, the music was back on.

When I was younger (junior high), I used to compose songs in my head. Sometimes I find songs by artists that explain a musician's relationship to their song, like the song here.



2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to

Writing a song is an AMAZING experience. You don't feel like you are writing a song per se, but you feel like the song has an existence all of its own, it always was, and you are the one who heard it, and wrote it down. There is an electrifying emotional connection to the song and you are simply the conduit. You hear it in your head, but more than that, you can FEEL it with every ounce of who you are. Consequently, I love music and artists where it is obvious that they feel their music, because it really resonates with me.

Interesting perspective on song writing in This American Life Episode. I actually fell in love with the Phil Collins song mentioned because I could tell that he was very emotionally connected to his piece and as they say in French, ca m'a marqué. (literal translation is 'that marked me'. There isn't a perfect equivalent in English.)

My experience gave me a new appreciation for people like Mozart and even the eccentricities of musicians and artists. (You know what I mean, the violinist who has to actually enact the music in bodily movement while they play and they look mildly crazy.) With the intensity of the music, you feel like everyone else's experience with the song is a fuzzy, black and white photo compared to your rich, colorful view of the beautiful vista from the top of a mountain. You wish everyone could experience the song in its rich entirety.

Picture from here.

(Even cooler pictures taken by my sister's awesome boyfriend, Sam here.)