Music. I don’t think I know a single person that has not been influenced by music in one way or another. We listen when we’re happy, sad, angry, and fired up. Music is like a friend who supports us no matter how we feel about the world. I grew up with heavy metal at one end of the house and country at the other so my musical tastes are far and wide. I love blues, jazz, rock, country, chick rock, big band, rap, classic rock and my secret love: show tunes. I like it all and can pretty much find a mood to match every song. That’s one of the benefits of being a moody bitch, I have lots of moods to match lots of music styles. So what does music say about us as people and particularly why do we choose certain genres to represent who we are?
While I like it all, at heart I am a rock chick. I like percussion, probably from my years of playing the drums so if a song doesn’t have good beat I have a hard time getting into it. For years I was an angry, lonely girl so Ani DiFranco was the epitome of what I listened to. She never let me down or made me feel any lonelier than I was. Then I got happy and shit had to change. These days I’ve settled into a pretty steady diet of rock. I actually like Kid Rock, Nickelback, Seether, Kings of Leon, Katy Perry, The Donnas, Veronicas, etc. I like to rock out old school and Night Ranger will forever be on my playlist.
I’m not too happy or too sad these days, I’m just trying to be. And while I’m . . . um, “being” I like to rock it out old school in my convertible. That’s right, I’m the girl with my top down (on the car anyway) with the stereo turned up and I’m singing every word at the top of my voice without caring who might see me. I do like the storytellers and music with a message, but I take a page from my brother these days and I listen to more music that just simply pumps me up and makes me feel good. Life is full of hardships and there is no shortage of hard luck stories out there, but it doesn’t mean we have to live them every moment. I never forget the other half of the glass, but these days I am trying to focus more on what is positive than the negative and music is a great vessel for that.
As a literary girl, I sometimes downplay the role that other artistic forums play in life. Actors speak of their “craft” and I laugh, abstract artists don’t always reach me, and rock bands are entertainment, not life lessons, but I’m mellowing. Today, I see the wisdom and the beauty in simply having a glass of whatever is cold, American Honey perhaps, and listening to something that makes me feel good rather than music that forces me to think. Because the truth is, I’m always thinking and I don’t need a song to remind me that people are starving or dying or suffering. What I need from music is the motivation to keep living. The hope these days is that while I’m living I will want to spend a little time helping others and giving back.
Sad songs don’t make me a good person, my actions do. So while I will always love Pearl Jam and Tracy Chapman, I’m going to defer to something that makes me appreciate the beauty of life and the blessings I have and maybe through the positive I will be more effective at helping to wipe out some of the negative. I’m still going to listen to sad songs now and again and they never fail to strike a chord, but they don’t make me want to go out into the world and make a difference, they just make me want to have another drink and wallow. Billy Holiday I love you, but I’m not building any schools with you as my backing vocals. I’ll take Night Ranger any day and probably get a hell of a lot more done in the process.
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