Again, I've been slacking. My apologies once more, things have been pretty busy.
Music makes everything better. Truly. It's an odd phenomenon that happens when metered, rhyming words are paired with a melody. Something inside gets going, gears start churning, and an entire day can be turned around. A new mood can arise. A skip in your step can appear. A smile might sneak its way out. Music inherently possesses an incredible ability to make everything better.
The weather last week was frightful, but my music made it so delightful. Streets were sloshy and wind was howling and snow was pelting my face, coating my clothes and seeping through my jeans. NYC was being blasted by another round of February snow, as 2010 has seen all too much of. I didn't want to take out my mp3 player for fear of water damage, but decided I needed it anyway.
With it firmly tucked into my jacket pocket, my hand holding it securely as an extra safeguard, I stuck my headphones in both ears so as to keep the wind out. Usually, I only wear one bud so I can hear what's happening around me on the streets--because I'm safe like that--but today was different. I turned it on, set it to random shuffle play all, and pressed play. Immediately, as if my player knew, it put on the one song that can ALWAYS make me feel incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2seAJsrtIbQ
Thank goodness I had both buds in. Instantly, I perk up. With the music completely enveloping me, I start dancing to myself, just like in that video (great movie, by the way. Definitely see it.). I'm singing along, twirling down the street, and things are great.
Next song to come up, "A Walk Through Hell" by Say Anything. Again, another song that can make me feel wonderful. And it was pretty applicable to the times, even if it was talking about fire rather than ice. I pushed repeat about three or four times on the way to my next class!
Once I finally let go of Say Anything, song after song of great rhythms, awesome bass beats, and catchy melodies were coming up. And yes, the two examples I gave are poppy, happy songs, but some sadder, sweeter songs came up too in addition to some harder, heavier rock songs. All of it just worked though. Instead of huddling and shielding myself, I was looking up and smiling at the snowflakes. Sometimes, the world is a lot prettier the more you get to look at it.
Once I finally got home and changed into not-wet clothes, I thought about what had just happened. I realized that I would have been completely miserable at that exact moment had it not been for my music. I literally danced the entire way home all because of some random songs. Out of thousands of songs, every one that came up put me in some new mood that made the outside world and outside weather just fade away. The songs seeped into me and I melted into them.
This odd blending of body and soul and mind and music is universal, I feel, when we let it happen. So many times, we seek refuge in our music. We seek solace or comfort. We seek inspiration or motivation. We seek confirmation or explanation. Music is more than just words or a tune. Music has a wonderful power to it that I fall so short of explaining. All I know is that music has helped me through many things in my life, as trivial as snow to as grave as deaths. I've gone to music for fun, for boredom, for love, for inspiration, for comfort, for help, for just about anything you can think of.
We run to it, we work to it, we dance to it. Music is all around us. Music is in us. Music can become us and we can become music. Music can create. Music can change. Music can embrace. Music can heal. Music is otherworldly. So next time you're having a bad day, just put on some Hall & Oates. I promise, you'll feel better.
Singing in the streets,
The A.S.S.
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