"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Berthold Auerbach
I like this quote, It reminds me of when I was a teenager, standing in church and feeling muddled and hopeless about my boyfriend, who was a psycho. Dating a psycho causes much muddleness by the way. Everything seemed to be in shambles and I was feeling an awful depressed funk.
That was until we began singing Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens. Something about that song just washed everything away and I felt noticeably lighter. It changed my mood completely. It washed my funk away.
Years later before walking down the aisle to wed darling Jim, I held hands with my two best friends and sang the song Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls. Singing that calmed me and gave me the peace I needed to go down that aisle without being a mess of nerves.
I find that I gravitate toward music that speaks to me during my current phases of life. It gives me food for thought, it lifts me up or commiserates in misery with me. Music is my friend.
So, now to the contest. I have recently download about 15 new songs that I really like. You'll find some of them on this post and if you like the feel of the music, then please consider entering my new contest. Although I have the distinct feeling that Sister HB would say they make her want to slit her writs. But let me tell you, there will be some very fun and uplifting Regina Spektor songs in the mix, so don't worry too much.
To enter all you need to do is write in the comments about a moment when music helped you, healed you, hurt you, or inspired you to do something amazing. Tell me your most interesting story about music. I'll leave this open for a week, and then I'll go through and choose a winner.
Good luck!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Contest!!
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8 comments:
I could just copy and paste most of your post into my blog. Except for the personal stories and all...
:0)
Music has been a part of my life since I was little too. Music can be uplifting, consoling, or even help you scream your frustrations out. I have music playing almost all day long in my house. So, I'm loving your little challenge here. :0)
Though country is one of my least favorite genres of music, the song "Bring on the Rain" by Jo Dee Messinga really helped me to get through my divorce.
"It's almost like the hard times circle round. A couple drops and they all start coming down. I might feel defeated, I might hang my head. I might be barely breathing but I'm not dead.... Tomorrow's another day, and I am not afraid. So bring on the rain."
Another one that helped was "You're Not Alone" by Michael McLean.
"You're not alone. Even though right now you're on your own. You are loved in ways that can't be shown. Your needs are known. You're not alone. And when you cry, you're just letting go a heartache deep inside. Tomorrow there'll be sunshine and sky and love close by. You're not alone."
I know...that was two. But I couldn't pick. Both songs have meant a lot to me in the past.
THanks Ashlee. I too dislike country, but I also found God Bless the Broken Road very poingnant to Jim and I after our meltdown. So I suffered through the twang because the words were so good!
Thanks for playing. Hopefully others will play along. It'll be a good test to see who actually remembers who we are, lol!
Closer to Fine by Indigo Girls and Superman by REM are the two songs that, even since college, if I happen to hear on the radio, mean that I'm going to have a GREAT day!
When I was a freshman in college and I was terribly homesick I would listen to Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes, because no matter how sad I was, she was sadder, and it would lift me out of my funk.
Cristan, I love Torie Amos. She actually said Hi to me once, lol. And Raspberry Swirl is awesome live.
When I was a Freshman I sat and listened to the song "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen on repeat for a few hours. It drove my roommate insane. lol!
As we've shared, C has had some challenging times. I don't feel I can share the entire story in this comments section, but let's just say that when the poor little guy was five, he was verbally abused on a daily basis by a kindergarten teacher. On top of this, the school pushed us to try "medication" for him, and then wasn't giving us the verbal reports that the doctor asked for.
End result, my poor little five-year-old almost had a nervous breakdown. Literally.
We pulled him from that school (and those horrible meds that he was reacting to) mid-year and I spent a month living a very gentle life with him. He had lots of play dates with a dog (no, I'm not kidding). It was the dead of winter, and my friend would bring her dog to this park with a wonderful river and C and the dog would run, and run, and run, and finally healing started to take place.
The end of the story is that after being out of school for six weeks (winter break and the month after) he was ready to try again at our local public school, where he had a GEM of a teacher who helped bring him back to life, literally.
During that whole scary time, I played "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor constantly. Not around C, of course, but virtually every other moment. It became my mantra. I was going to survive because he needed me and he would survive because I was going to pull us both through.
It was probably the worst time of my life.
A great blessing in my life at this point is that C doesn't remember this whole period at all, other than remembering that the first teacher was "a little mean".
Yes, yes, YES. I love everyone's comments. I started to write a huge comment of my own and then I remembered I had no blog topic so I might as well use it for that. So head over to my blog if you want to read it. You are overdue for visiting my blog anyway. I cried myself to sleep last night because you've been ignoring me. Sorry I ended up writing a dismal book.
Jane was smart, I should have had people write a little blog and done mr. linky or something.
I read, I loved, I commented Jane ;)
Your post resonates with me in so many ways. Music seems to have been my constant companion through so many stages of my life.
Most notably when I was traveling nurse, and my first work assignment was over 3000miles away from home. I had nothing but 3 suitcases, and not a friend within 3 time zones. The intense loneliness and fear often left me in the confines of my apt bedroom, but it was music that kept me going. Listening to legendary jazz artists who navigated me through every emotion, high and low, until I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And inspired me to seek out new opportunities. Until this day, music continues to evoke emotion, memories, and passion from within me.
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