What's music to you?!

[Sir Ped of Ro]

to everyone

just a simple yet complex question: what music means to you?! What's it's importance on your life?! in the end, what's music to you?!

regards, Pedro.

[BJC]

Music plays a huge part in my life.....almost to a point where in not even understandable anymore That sum it up?

[Elliot Kane]

Music moves me when nothing else will. It's an endless fascination, and an endless pleasure. It's a thing I feel and experience as well as hear.

So I guess I like it. A lot ;D

Good topic, Pedro

[janggut]

what music means to you?! What's it's importance on your life?! in the end, what's music to you?!

the first & the last question are very similar. too similar to me in fact, that i cannot tell the difference so i'll answer only either one.

music is reflection of my emotional state, a glimpse of my inner being. what i listen to will tell u how i feel at the moment, how i am at that time, the chaotic soup of thoughts within my mind. to find the voice of my emotion, the volume of its intensity, the words to my thoughts, the pace of urgency.

for the introvert, music is outlet. for the tormented, it is relief. for the muted, it is voice. for the trapped, it is the way out.

it is as much pleasure as it is torture. as much joy in it as there is sorrow. clarity & at the same time ambiguous. labourous & yet urgent.

a period without music = emotional void

which is why i am so picky about sound quality before listening to my music. ;D thus when my beloved music plays, it becomes foreground while all else melt into background.

[philster]

Music is to me unfortunately something very, very mysterious. Ah well.

[Sir Ped of Ro]

very nice replys everyone

guess it's my turn.
To me music is a way of traveling, not just an emotional/feeling vehicule, but a way of traveling/meeting/returning to places and persons.

Music has the ability (it always amazes me) of being an universal language. you don't need to be an expert in music, or know how to play instruments or read a music sheet...you just need to stand close, listen and enjoy (or not).

All is in the heart...

at least this is my explanation of why i so truly love jazz music while "not knowing" anything about music as an expert/musician.

regards

[janggut]

senior pedro, so u like jazz? wow! i like a bit of it as some of my fav soundtracks are jazzy in nature; Cowboy Bebop series & movie, Macross Plus etc.

@ Phil -> can u feel the vibration from the speaker or instrument (such as piano)? that's music. u may not hear it but u can feel it, maybe even better than all of us do.

[Sir Ped of Ro]

janggut said:

senior pedro, so u like jazz? wow! i like a bit of it as some of my fav soundtracks are jazzy in nature; Cowboy Bebop series & movie, Macross Plus etc.

@ Phil -> can u feel the vibration from the speaker or instrument (such as piano)? that's music. u may not hear it but u can feel it, maybe even better than all of us do.

hello fellow mod

yes i'm a jazz/blues and independant pop rock music lover.
Me and my wife we discovered the cowboy bebop ost (6 or 7 cds) box and i love it. really top notch high quality music. the jazz/blues pieces are simply astonishing, breathtaking...it reminds me sometimes of some of my fav. jazz masters (mostly sonny rollins, joshua redman, and others).

what are your fav. groups/artists/musicians?!

regards

[SilvaShado]

Music is a way to experience something that you may not otherwise have a chance to experience - heartbreak, happiness, new places, etc.

Something about music transports me to a new place.

It can make me feel better, lift my spirits and it can help me cry when I need to.

Just in general, my day goes better when I hear music, which is why I have my alarm set to the radio. Sadly, the stereo in my car was stolen this past Christmas and I haven't been able to afford a new one. I'm thinking about getting a small portable radio and a lot of batteries to tide me over.

[Venom65437]

I just love to listen to music. It's rare that I ever make an emotional connection to music.

[Sir Ped of Ro]

venom65437 said:

I just love to listen to music. It's rare that I ever make an emotional connection to music.

oh yeah?! why's that, do you have any idea?!

[Venom65437]

Cause I am really not looking to make an emotional connection to music most of the time. I just love to listen to it.

[janggut]

@ venom -> by stating your love to music listening, u have already invested some kind of emotional connection to the music u listen to. if u don't believe me, try not listening to it for a period of time (say one day) & see how u fare without it. - this sounds like EK's humanology thingie. ;D

hey senior Pedro, if u are to combine all that group/artist/musician to one, it'll be Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts! the same people who did Cowboy Bebop soundtracks! YAY!!

i'd like to recommend u to get Cowboy Bebop movie soundtrack, which is also known as Future Blues. it is one of the finest ever from Yoko Kanno & her super group Seatbelts. i think there is a DVD version of that soundtrack which includes live vids of their performance. i know for sure it is a dream to own that one.

for Yoko Kanno's earlier works which laced with jazzy elements, u can try Macross Plus soundtracks (two volumes).

[Venom65437]

Eh, I've gone days without music before, it isn't a big deal. Thou it's rare, in my car the silence would drive me crazy....

At any rate, if I had to go a week without music, I could do it.

Even if I would miss my beloved Aerosmith

[Sir Ped of Ro]

venom65437 said:

Eh, I've gone days without music before, it isn't a big deal. Thou it's rare, in my car the silence would drive me crazy....

At any rate, if I had to go a week without music, I could do it.

Even if I would miss my beloved Aerosmith

venom
if you miss a certain group/artist of music or like you've said "...you just love to listen", isn't there an emotional attachement to it?!

[Venom65437]

I'd get over it with a little time...

[peterh]

I rarely discuss music beyond the "who's the better artist/group" or other superficial subjects cause my relation to music is complex and to discuss it, I'll have to go into private details. But hey, we're friends here so I'll give it a shot. Bear with me, there’s a happy ending.

Music is everything to me. I can't remember not listened to it in some form. My parents played a lot of radio and I was given a cassette recorder at an early age and enjoyed music and stories (among them Ivanhoe and TinTin comics told on tape). We had a piano in the house so my parents signed me up for piano lessons, which I took three years and later guitar for two, but sadly I've forgotten most of it today. In elementary school I played with some other people as a pasttime - I even sang once or twice, believe it or not

Through elementary school my taste in music was pop and a bit of rock. Around the eight grade or I started having problems in school. A guy in my class had a problem with me and turned some 9th and 10th graders against me and some not so nice stuff followed resulting in me turning into myself. During that period I started listening to music in a different way. Somehow I could relate to those feelings of loneliness and despair and I longed to experience the romance and love of those pop ballads that never happened to me. High school was even worse - pure hell - and during that time, music become (along with comics) a essential tool in making it through the day.

Flash forward to 1999. I moved to Aalborg and got regular internet access and took the next step in my musical evolvement - I started downloading music on, IIRC, Napster and started chatting online. These two things broadened my musical horizon and I began having quite a collection of different music.
Personally, I found friends in Aalborg, but nevertheless things worsened and in 2001 I was emergency rushed to a special school for youths age 18 - 25 due to me taking way too many pills. During that period, and especially the first six months, I found consolation in music. I wouldn't open up to anyone, but told Lars, my contact person, to listen to one particular song that expressed how I felt - Pink Floyd - comfortably numb. Comfortably numb is a very melancholic and destructive song and it spoke to me, as did Hey you also by Pink Floyd. I began listening to darker music, like Alice in Chains, since it was all I could relate to.

In early 2002 Lars suggested that I'd give guitar a shot and to my surprise I felt an inner peace and balance when playing so I often sat for myself and played the Danish song “hold om mig” over and over again, always with a big smile on my face. The school had a music class every Friday, which I became joined and realized that I wasn't as good on guitar as others, switched to the bass and quickly and successfully adjusted to. I’m no expert on therapeutic treatment using music but it made me gradually at peace with myself and I started opening up and thing’s finally started getting better to the point where I didn’t need melancholic music to help me through the day and certainly didn’t have a need for taking pills. I’ve finally found my way out and have music in part to thank for it.

Flash forward to the present. It’s four years since I started at the school and thing’s are much much better. My depression and self loathing is long long gone and I really like my life, despite whatever problems there may be. I still listen to Pink Floyd but have discovered the beauty in it I never saw back then. Alice in Chains doesn’t hold my interested and neither does dark music for the sake of it. My favorite song is Sweet Child of mine – an extremely beautiful song that can bring tears to my eyes – but in a good way.

I started by saying the effect music has on my life cannot be underestimated. It helped save my life and I’ll never stop listening.

[janggut]

Pete, that was beautiful. thank u for sharing a secret part of u with us.

your bout of depression, i can relate to that as i was like that as i got older (pre-teen till 20's). drifted further & further away from friends. but i am thankful that i did not get into pills or anything like that so to know that u have conquered your inner beasts; i salute u.

also like u, i found music to be therapeutic & i listen without giving any thought nor preference on genre. how Alice in Chain is to u is how SoundGarden/Temple of the Dog is to me. & as how u put the demons to rests (along with the dark music), so i did not too long from the time u're back on your feet.

glad to know u, Pete. take care.

**************
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Staley, McCready, Martin, Saunders


My pain is self-chosen
At least, so The Prophet says
I could either burn
Or cut off my pride and buy some time
A head full of lies is the weight, tied to my waist

The River of Deceit pulls down
The only direction we flow is down
Down, oh down

My pain is self-chosen
At least I believe it to be
I could either drown
Or pull off my skin and swim to shore
Now I can grow a beautiful shell for all to see

The River of Deceit pulls down
The only direction we flow is down
Down, oh down

The pain is self-chosen
Our pain is self-chosen
***********************

[peterh]

janggut said:

Pete, that was beautiful. thank u for sharing a secret part of u with us.

your bout of depression, i can relate to that as i was like that as i got older (pre-teen till 20's). drifted further & further away from friends. but i am thankful that i did not get into pills or anything like that so to know that u have conquered your inner beasts; i salute u.

also like u, i found music to be therapeutic & i listen without giving any thought nor preference on genre. how Alice in Chain is to u is how SoundGarden/Temple of the Dog is to me. & as how u put the demons to rests (along with the dark music), so i did not too long from the time u're back on your feet.

glad to know u, Pete. take care.

**************
Lyrics by Layne Staley
Music by Staley, McCready, Martin, Saunders


My pain is self-chosen
At least, so The Prophet says
I could either burn
Or cut off my pride and buy some time
A head full of lies is the weight, tied to my waist

The River of Deceit pulls down
The only direction we flow is down
Down, oh down

My pain is self-chosen
At least I believe it to be
I could either drown
Or pull off my skin and swim to shore
Now I can grow a beautiful shell for all to see

The River of Deceit pulls down
The only direction we flow is down
Down, oh down

The pain is self-chosen
Our pain is self-chosen
***********************

Nice lyric...have you heard Dream Theater...a very very good progressive metal band with some very poetic lyrics...

I'll post the lyrics to Comfortably numb here...

Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?

Come on, now.
I hear you’re feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.

Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re sayin’.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I can’t explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

Ok.
Just a little pinprick. [ping]
There’ll be no more --aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.

Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working. good.
That’ll keep you going for the show.
Come on it’s time to go.

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re sayin’.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.




I'll post another song I could identify with...Take away my pain by Dream Theater. Beautiful stuff IMO.


I was sitting on the edge of his bed
Staring at the headlines on the paper
He said, "Look at poor Gene Kelly
I guess he won't be singing in the rain."
You can take away my heroes
Can you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened anymore
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight
Soon I'll be knocking at you're door

She was standing by the edge of his bed
Satring at the message on their faces
He said, " What else can you do babe?
I guess I won't be coming home again."
They just took away all my promises
Make them take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened anymore
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight
Soon I'll be knocking at you're door

His final scene
The actor bows
And all those years
Are gone somehow
The crowd applauds
The curtain falls

I was standing by the edge of the water
I noticed my reflection in the waves
Then I saw you looking back at me
And I knew that for a moment
You were calling out my name
You took away my hero
Will you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Let the cold inside
It's time to let it rain
There's nothing left to hide
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened anymore
I'm learnig to survive
Without you in my life
Til you come knocking at my door.......

[SilvaShado]

Thanks for sharing Peter.

I know music has always helped me whenever I get depressed or meloncholy. I've been quite alone for a lot of my life and always turned to music (and books) for help and escape. Thankfully now, I have a wonderful fiance and some very good friends.

But back when I was alone and needed to cry, I always listened to this song from Les Miserables. I don't remember the name of the song or the words exactly, but I remember the scene in the musical. This girl is walking alone in the rain. She's heartbroken, her dreams shattered... it was the most moving song I had ever heard and always made me cry. But I would usually feel better afterwards and not so alone because I knew others had felt like that before...