The Sound of Sound

Well I’ve heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord.  But you don’t really care for music do you?I’ve always been fascinated by that line from Leonard Cohen’s amazing song “Hallelujah“.  Are there really people out there that don’t care for music?  Really?  I have a hard time with that premise actually.

I think that music is like a force of weather in my life.  It has such powerful abilities to soothe, disturb, excite or otherwise move me.  So it is very difficult for me to imagine people out there who are unaffected by it.  In fact, I really don’t believe those people exist!

I know that music is subjective and mostly individualistic.  I say mostly, because there is a certain degree of ‘peer pressure’ involved with what we should like and what we shouldn’t like. For example, check out the boy band phenomena amongst youth…

There are sounds within the songs that tickle our ears just the right way.  Certain chords are like magic to us.  For me, A minor or E minor are two such chords.  They are powerful and expressive to my ears and my imagination.

But it’s deeper than the sound of the simplest chord.  It’s the hands and the soul of the one playing it.  For those who adore music, there exists a deep connection with the heart and soul of the creators of these magical sounds.  These artists are all different for all of us.  I find that musicians like Jeff Lynne, David Gilmour, Syd Barrett, George Harrison, John Denver and Larry Norman always stir up the fallen leaves of creativity in my soul.  They have a way of expressing their hearts in such a way that I can close my eyes and feel like I’m walking through their soul for a minute.

More importantly though, these musicians make me feel a little less ‘misplaced’.  They make me feel like I’m not that unusual in my thoughts or ideas (despite what some of you may think – HA!).  This strange acceptance really stirs up the creativity in me and makes me want to write, sing or play my guitar.  And even if no one hears the stuff I do, it is still soul therapy.

I’m going to cut this one short and leave it disjointed and ‘spilled out’.  I really just want to kick back in my chair and listen to All Things Must Pass by George Harrison!

Peace,
r