The Power of Music

As all of us wait anxiously for news about Wall St./Banking bailouts and we wonder how and when it may affect our day to day lives, sometimes it's hard to take out minds out of "worry mode" and focus on things less stressful. In the years since I was a pre-adolescent I can recall many times of heightened stress in our family, whether monetary or otherwise, and it didn't take me long to realize I needed a diversion from that tension, like many of us probably do now. For me it started with humor and using that as a defense mechanism from real or imagined bullies as a soothing tonic to what ailed me at the time. Although trying to be an upbeat and funny guy has been something I have strived to continue being all my life, I think what really kept me afloat in daunting or depressed times was music.

I was never surrounded by musicians or any intense musical environment growing up, though my mother and father both had bands they liked and played often in the house. There was no push to have me play any particular instrument, though I tried a few and failed miserably at many. I did enjoy my brief months as a trumpeter/drummer/recorder-ist, but I knew a prodigy of any of these instruments I was not. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was far better at enjoying other people's music rather than creating my own, and when I had this epiphany it hit me like a tidal wave.

From as early as my 9th year I can recall listening to bands like "Kiss" and "Pink Floyd" and not only becoming mystified by the "cool" lyrics (I was made for loving you baby...you were made for lovin me!) or haunting melodies, but I became obsessed with knowing who exactly these bands were and where they were from and what made they write what the wrote and why. During these early years my tastes were not confined to classic/hard rock either, as I was a huge fan of Barry Manilow and could probably sing all of "Looks Like We Made" it today, albeit horribly. I also loved Shawn Cassidy. I was digging Boz Scaggs. I was a huuuge fan of Lynyrd Skynyd, though possibly just because the name was odd. This love of rock bands then spilled over into what I am sure my mother would call, "Metal Hell".

My journey into the depths of metal began, oddly, with a very un-metal artist, Neil Diamond! My mom had his album The Jazz Singer and there was a tune on there called "Coming To America" I think it was, and something about it just really jazzed me up (no pun intended). It wasn't heavy metal but it was sort of mildly hard edged and for some reason this oddball choice of tunes to like led me to begin worshipping bands like Foreigner, AC/DC and soon after, Van Halen, which became a longtime favorite. How good 'ol Neil led me down the path to "Hells Bells" and other great hard rock/metal songs and artists is still a mystery but I know after hearing that tune of his I just craved something edgier.

As time passed, and right up through High School, I became very "metal-obsessed", idolizing and following bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer, Scorpions, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Although bands like Zep were not "metal" per se, they were hard edged and respected enough where liking them didn't get you called a "poser" by other metal fans. I think the danger and toughness of metal bands also provided some pseudo shelter from the fears of growing up in a new town, which I did when I moved to Suffield, CT and entered high school. As the years passed though, I still listened to and enjoyed hard rock/metal but slowly began to diversify into all kinds of other sub genres and classes of music, including New Wave, Ambient/New Age, Jazz, Blues, Pop Rock and even classical. It just seemed to me that it was so limiting to restrict oneself to one specific type of music when there was so much intensity and beauty and solace to be found in so many other varieties.

That's the thing about music, there really is something for everyone. You can be having the worst day ever and just need a pick me up (and choose to avoid something of the chemical variety!) and put on "Scarlet Begonias" by the Dead and I defy you to stay depressed(you can also try "Manhattan" by Kings of Leon..you can't NOT dance around like an asswipe listening to that tune!). If you feel like enhancing your anger because a co-worker pissed you off and you want to pummel the heavy bag at the gym with their imagined face adorning the front of it, "Walk" by Pantera is a fine choice, or of course anything by Slayer. If you're feeling particularly amorous and you want to enhance an already heated environment for you and your partner, I would say almost anything from "Violator" by Depeche Mode would work, as well as numerous tracks by Roxy Music. If you just want a simple romantic, melodramatic ballad that will make you feel like you are sharing in the writers longing for his woman, "Drive All Night" is hard to beat by Springsteen. There really is a song for every occasion.

The truth is though, it's not just about certain songs or certain bands, it's about music as an entity. It has the intangible power to shape, guide, enhance and alter almost any mood one could be in at any given time. It's brilliance lies in the fact that it's created by people that are seeking the same thing we as listeners are; a place to change their consciousness, for better of for worse. I don't think there's been a day that I can remember since I was five years old that music wasn't a part of, and I hope that day never comes as I grow older. The times may toughen and the world may become more callous and cold but as long as there's a tune to temporarily take me to place I'd rather be then, as Bob Marley said, "Everything's Gonna Be All Right..."