The Power of Music

One great thing about the technological advances that we have seen in the past decade is the access.  Whether it is the ability to look something up in a manner of minutes to settle a debate or to check the weather for the city you are planning to visit, it is at the tips of your fingers.  It's all there if you want it to be.  Another wonderful thing, is digital music.  Instead of carrying a book of the one hundred or so CDs that you own (let's face it, everyone had one of these monsters in their car), you can carry all your music in your pocket on either your phone or iPod.

Instead of fumbling through the pages and pages trying to find the CD you want to listen to, you can scroll through and find it and play it.  You also have the ability to find musicians you didn't even know existed and fall in love with them.  If you want to have a good cry, Adele can be found.  If you want to rattle the windows in the car after a stressful day, Metallica is a click away.  If you want to great political music, Rage Against the Machine or the Fugees are around.  All you have to do is plug it in and go. 

 

Above is a screen shot from my phone of an album I bought when I was in college.  Now, there are a handful of people that I know that, if they read this, might scream happily at seeing this.  One thing that I find with ska and new punk is that if I come across it at the right time, it just makes me want to roll the windows down, drive fast, and not give two fucks about anything.  Other times, I hear a song come on and think 'Meh.' and skip it.  And some if it is so good.  Listen to Dropkick Murphys 'The Gauntlet' and tell me you don't want to kick some serious ass.  Some of it, not so much.  'We're Desperate' by Pennywise is the worst.  But it's fast, it's loud, it's vulgar, it's everything a college kid looks for in music, right?  There are tracks on this particular album that I didn't even put on the computer because I just didn't like them.  Another perk to the digital age.  Pre-skipping music you don't want to listen to.  Did this album change my life?  No.  Did it make me want to find out more about the bands?  Not really.  There were some bands that I already knew (Dropkick Murphys, NoFx, Bad Religion) and some I didn't (T(i)NC, Death by Stereo, Millencolin).  

The power that music has that allows you to forget about the world is wonderful.  I think back to the last scene in 'Dazed and Confused' when Mitch puts on his headphones, 'Slow Ride' starts to play and he just gets this big old grin on his face.  Whether it is just one song that you want to put on repeat for hours on end or an entire catalog from one band, music allows you to escape.  Music might not solve all your problems, but it allows us to forget about them.  Even if it is for just an hour. 

I will leave you with this gem that is on the album.  Enjoy!