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| Author: Posted: Nov. 17, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 3,840,763 |
Question of the Week: 67 - 11/19/2001 What Is Music? What is 'music' really? What sort of music do you like or has special meaning for you? Do you use music in your rituals/meditations/workings? Share your favorite music line quotation or the one that has expressed a thought, emotion or hope that you wish more people would 'get a clue' about. |
| Reponses: There are 18 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| Music Has Been A Very Important Part Of My Life From A... | Nov 13th. at 1:14:43 am EST |
| Gwydion Canu Bleidd (Knoxville, Tennessee US) | Age: 33 - Email |
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Music has been a very important part of my life from a very early age. Rock 'n' roll was what moved me as a kid (and still does whenever I need a release)--from the age of five, when I was introduced to the Beatles' music (and in my heart, the Fab Four will always be the reigning Kings of Rock 'n' Roll; there has been no one to touch them, before or since), through the age of sixteen, when I immersed myself fully in the poetics of Bob Dylan, and my subsequent discoveries of psychedelia, progressive rock and Celtic folk music. I like nearly all kinds of music, with the exception of rap (something about hearing it booming from cars going down the street past my house in the middle of the night while I'm trying to get to sleep--something that has never been easy for me--has fueled my dislike of this form of "urban art") and modern country-and-western (too much of the sameness that afflicts top 40 and even most "alternative" music). Music is the one thing that gives me comfort when I need it most, helps me to express whatever I'm feeling--rage, love, confusion, fear--and to, in the immortal words of the MC5, "Kick Out the Jams." For rituals, I prefer anything that will get me into the proper state of mind, so the more hypnotic, the better. Of late, my favorite artists have been the Strawbs, Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. These are all connected, as Sandy was briefly a member of the Strawbs before joining Fairport Convention in 1968, and Thompson was Fairport's founding lead guitarist, and remains one of the finest folk-rock guitarists and singer-songwriters England has yet produced (as well as being a sorely underrated talent, as Sandy was, and as the Strawbs still are). Dave Cousins, founder member and linchpin of the Strawbs, wrote a song in 1972 that very definitely applies to the world today; at the time, he wrote it about Northern Ireland, but it fits particularly well in the wake of 9/11. The song is titled "New World": There is blood in the dust, where the city's heart beats The children play games that they take from the streets How can you teach when you've so much to learn? May you turn... In your grave new world. There is hate in your eyes, I have seen it before Planning destruction behind a locked door Were you the coward who fired the last shot? May you rot!... In your grave new world. There is death in the air, with the lights growing dim As those who survive sing a desperate hymn Pray that God grants you one final request May you rest... In your grave new world. After 9/11, that song expressed all the anger, the outrage, and the sorrow that I felt at what has become of our world. Yet another song, by the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (also a longtime favorite of mine), written around the same time, expresses much the same feelings, but in a gentler tone, a wish for all to reconcile: "Now I've been crying lately Thinking about the world as it is; Why must we go on hating? Why can't we live in bliss?..." --"Peace Train" (1971) Music, above all, is an international language that we can all understand. |
| Music Has Always Been An Outlet For How I Feel. When I... | Nov 12th. at 6:31:07 pm EST |
| Amber "Heathen" Davis (Cornelius, Oregon US) | Age: 21 - Email |
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Music has always been an outlet for how I feel. When I was in high school I went through the whole Marilyn Manson phase (for all you parents out there--don't worry! It is indeed only a phase! lol). Towards the end of high school I moved on to listening to more intelligent music. The woman who owns a small Pagan store in the town I grew up in got me into listening to Loreena Mckennit, which I still listen to to this day. The first song I heard of hers was "The Highway Man", adapted from Alfred Noyes' poem, which happens to be one of my favorites. Depending on my mood, I can go from listening to Cradle of Filth (british goth/black-metal band) to listening to the likes of Enya or Loreena McKennit. I have a large cd collection, but the ones that I listen to the most are "Midian" by Cradle of Filth, "The Visit" by Loreena McKennit, "How To Measure A Planet?" by The Gathering, "Dark Side of The Moon" by Pink Floyd, "The Dance" by Fleetwood Mac, "The Velvet Darkness They Fear", by Theatre of Tragedy. When I'm sad, I can listen to something slow and soft and sit in the dark and cry...When I'm angry I can put in a Cradle of Filth cd and sing (or perhaps shriek is a better word for it) along. Some of my favorite songs are songs I like because they describe me, or how I feel...For example the song "Marooned" by The Gathering: I know I'm from a lesser tribe I suppose the range of my intelligence is way too wide And you don't see me 'cause I don't have much to say My emotional outlet is consuming the better part of me And apart from the wrong words a tortured cry is making me see That you don't see me 'cause I don't have much to say Hours and hours of jealousy are passing me by Although hollow silence is the only wave going through your brain And you don't see me 'cause I don't have much to say The only music I really don't like is pop and rap. Pop is all commercialized trash with the Britney Speare's bimbo types and wussy boy bands. Rap is just....ugh. Thats all I have to say about rap! And contrary to what someone mentioned in an earlier post, metal music doesn't necessarily inspire people to be violent. I love many metal bands and I wouldn't hurt a fly :-) Pop music on the other hand...well, personally pop music does have a tendency to make me want to lash out in violent ways ;-) As I once saw on a tshirt someone was wearing on the bus "SPEAR BRITNEY!" |
| For Me, Always, Music Has Been My Escape Route To All The... | Nov 12th. at 3:12:49 pm EST |
| Ciarrai (Somewhere In Middlesex County, New Jersey US) | Age: 34 - Email |
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For me, always, music has been my escape route to all the far-away places in my mind since I have been a child. During my "wonder years" I immediately went up to my room, off w/ the Catholic school uniform, on with the turn table, and into my trance I would go! Dancing, trancing, prancing, singing -- Mom didn't care; she raised 6 full blown hippies before me -- I was easy compared to them, and I was home! Immediately refreshed from trauma from the nuns, I would be better prepared to have positive discussion with Mom, and to do my homework completely focused. I'm 34 now, and this has not changed, except I'm by myself! (I am known to continue driving around the block until the music is over...) ***************** Just the other day, this one hit me in the face, "And then one day you'll find Ten years have got behind you, No one told you when to run You missed the starting gun..." Pink Floyd; don't know if it's Waters or Gilmour, or both... Let's just say that my last 10 years in this lifetime have been, well, "interesting!" ****************** "And the woman may be awestruck, And the woman may truly care, But the woman is so tired, So the woman disappears..." -- Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks "Come In Out of the Darkness..." -- as above! (Just feeling very "womanly today..." else I'd probably be quoting lots of Morrison!) |
| I Disagree With The Individual Who Posted The Comments About Pop Influencing... | Nov 12th. at 1:20:03 pm EST |
| Elfster (Lewisville, Texas US) | Age: 36 - Email |
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I disagree with the individual who posted the comments about Pop influencing people to become popular or Heavy Metal influencing people to violent behavior. Music is music is music is music. For instance, I've been listening to Heavy Metal for close to seventeen years now (yes I lean back to the old days when Heavy Metal was about how much hairspray you wore in your hair), and I've yet to lose control of myself and fall over to a mannerism of chaotic violence. Music, much like the Pagan ways we each follow seperately yet together, is about an attitude, a manner of expressing one's self. Yet all musical art forms are merely releases for emotions - both of the artist and the listener. To help us release the emotions of sorrow, we turn to quiet musical forms, such as Enya, Loreena McKennitt, and others, so that we may lend more power to our sorrow and sadness. For romantic moods, we turn to many different artists, but generally those that touch our inner soul and speak of beauty and caring in our mind's eye. To increase the intensity of our daily workouts, we might turn to Punk, Alternative, or Heavy Metal music to help get the juices flowing and raise the heartbeat a little higher. No, music doesn't make us more violent, nor does it make us anything else. Music merely lends a stronger current of power into our current mindset...our actions are determined by our own selves - to suggest that music leads us towards a path of destruction and violence, no matter what the music genre, is to deny the concept that we choose to walk that Path ourselves. |
| Music Is One Of The Major Driving Forces In My Life. Without... | Nov 12th. at 11:53:22 am EST |
| Night MoonFlame (Tidewater, Oregon US) | Age: 13 |
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Music is one of the major driving forces in my life. Without music I'd go nuts. I am a very musically talented person, (they said I'm just repeating). It affects my thinking and my moods, (well mostly I play songs that fit my established mood). Now this doesn't mean from listening to the same wonderful sad song for 6 hours straight, (I actually did that once) that I'm going to be all mopey and depressed. It just means it's a wonderful song with great lyrics and fabulous music to boot. I also beleive that music sends messages to out sub-conscious. None of the music I have would be very good for a ritual considring it's got very fast beats from start to finish or very loud no matter how low you turn the volume. And most, if not all, of them are love songs.(I'm a hopeless romantic*sigh*) And then the rest are a myriad mix of kicking butt and sad and happy songs not to mention all the various things that would take up a whole page to list. Music has been my inspiration for life and it has also helped me through the rough times by first sympathyzing(sad songs) and then telling me I'm better because of it(kicking butt songs). Hmmm my favorite line from a song... "I might be barely breathin' but I'm not dead"-Jodee Messina, Bring On the Rain. It says that even though it looks like I'm gonna be dead that I'm not dead just yet and I still have a chance, so don't condem me to death just yet. |
| Music, What May Seem Insignificant Yet Can Be More Influencial Than Any... | Nov 12th. at 11:01:43 am EST |
| Aelfen Pandora (Chicago, Illinois US) | Age: 16 - Email |
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Music, what may seem insignificant yet can be more influencial than any philosopher and more giving than a loyal familiar. I am a Beatlemaniac, the Beatles' music speaks to me (no, not like Charles Manson). All You Need is Love has inspired me and others greatly; their movie, Yellow Submarine, is pondered in classes in universities. Music is poetry, but on a much higher level. It helps us sleep, dance, get over troubles, and love. Pop is not music, it teaches nothing but to be promiscuous and popular. Heavy metal is too angry, unless you like being inspired to act violently. I play the piano and take singing lessons, both of which I deeply enjoy. I've ordered a sitar in the mail, to heighten my thoughts about the art of sound. Blessed Be and All You Need is Love! |
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