Music

There is a book my elder and I are both reading about a girl growing up in the Southern Baptist church in Eastern Ky.  One of her stories involved music by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  Great group.  I loved them.  Maybe a little to progressive for their time but they had some super lyrics.

Either way, it got me to thinking about music and life and realizing (once again) how much my life relates to certain songs and the memories attached to them.  Some are "anthems" and some are just music I love.  But, be warned, I'm not a happy person and my music is not happy.  There are a lot of reasons for this and I'm not going into them here and probably never.  But, I'll list some and make explanations where I can.

I guess the first "Anthem" song was "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who.  "And my dreams are not as empty as my conscience seems to be..."  I lived/loved that song.  Then there was Bob Seger with "Running Against the Wind".  I'm not going to explain the meaning of the term so look it up.  It has to do with sailing.  But, the lines, "I'm older now but still running against the wind" speak to me,

Who can forget Nazareth with "Love Hurts"?  "Some fools fool themselves I guess, They're not fooling me"    Well worth a listen or two.

I've always lived and loved music and it is one of the great regrets in my life I am unable to play an instrument or carry a tune.  I can't play and I can't sing but I dearly love music and I love the poets who touch my life and set it to a tune.

From the time I was around ten and my brother bought me my first 9volt transistor radio, I've loved and lived the music of my time.   Though lately, I find myself more and more loving and listening to music of my past.  I know not all music means the same thing to different people as we've all had different experiences.

How may of you can relate to Kris Kristoffersen's "Epitaph:Black and Blue"?  It is a very simple tune.  I recently found out it was written about Janis Joplin but I did not care.  Something in it spoke to me and still does.  I really love Kris K's music.  See "Sunday Morning Coming Down", "Jesus Was a Capricorn", "Loving Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again", "Late Again" and so many others.  Makes you feel he's lived your life already and you're just stuck in  a rut and going to end up in the same place no matter.

Music, and music is just poetry with instruments, infiltrates into our very being and has such a hold on us that any certain tune can bring back memories, feelings, longings.  Music is like a time machine.  To the young it takes us to the future and to the young it takes us to the past.

I'm constantly working on my "funeral music" as I do not want any kind of preacher getting up and spouting lies about me or marginalizing my death by preaching a hellfire and damnation sermon then having an alter call. (Yes, happened at my wife's father's funeral).  I just want about 30 minutes of music that has meaning to me.  Everyone else can guess and gossip (some of my family's favorite sports) about it. 

I may just create a DVD of some of the music that has special meaning in my life.  Problem is I don't know if I can cut it to 30 minutes.  Oh well.  :-)  Maybe I'll figure it out and maybe I won't.  In the end it is just so much noise.  All we leave behind us is the memories of those who have known us and those are so subjective it does not make a real difference.    However music is eternal and music can tell us more about another person when we listen to it than they might tell  us themselves.