If you were a fly hitching a ride in my car when Ariella and I are on drives, you would often hear phrases like, “Little [that's what I call Ariella], listen to this. This is [insert band name], and they are [insert choice of important, incredible, over-rated, under-rated, mind blowing, vomit-inducing, etc.] because [insert impeccable and inarguably accurate explanation].”
It’s important to me that Ariella enjoys music on a deeper level. I don’t care if she ends up loving the same music I do. I am positive each generation gathers to itself new musical tastes that their parents, mostly stuck in the ruts of their late teens and early 20s, cannot swallow. For example, my parents are totally incapable of appreciating bands like
Norma Jean,
Protest the Hero,
Jay-Z,
Ludacris, and
The Dismemberment Plan. I, however, love them. My parents’ parents couldn’t swallow bands like
Led Zeppelin or
The Rolling Stones.
Music is my emotional language. I believe that if I didn’t have music, I would become a shell. A turtle whose head and legs are never exposed; just a hard, unfeeling shell. Music gives me the language to express myself. The music I listen to is a manifestation of my self. It doesn’t match up along superficial lines by any means. Listening to
Battles or
The Bad Plus doesn’t mean I’m in a contemplative mood. Listening to
The Deftones (like I am right now) doesn’t mean I’m angry. Listening to
Flogging Molly doesn’t mean I’m drunk. I can’t describe how it works, but you’re going to have to believe me that music provides a canvas on which I can paint my emotions.
I’ve been feeling odd, lately. I’ve been feeling detached, solemn, aloof. From everything. I’ve masked it with being busy, but I’ve come to realize that the feeling is only partially due to the fact that I don’t have a community to feel part of right now. It is also due to the fact that I haven’t been taking the time to soak up music like my emotional fuel tanks require. Last Friday, I started to remedy this, and since then, I have had several instances of rapid refueling. Notably, I watched VH1’s Classic Albums on
Nirvana’s Nevermind. I admit I’ve seen it before (and before that, I saw it once or thrice). ”Little, this is Nirvana, and they are important because they reminded the world that music isn’t only about egos.”
Then, I watched
The Song Remains the Same, a live Led Zeppelin performance. I had the misfortune of noticing that Robert Plant’s jeans were so tight that they were actually worn where his penis pressed against them kind of like my wallet wears a lighter spot on my back pocket. You could see the total outline of his junk. Despite that, with eyes averted and/or closed, I was able to soak in the sound. ”Little, this is Led Zeppelin, and they are important because they played the blues with a lot of kick and had one heck of a drummer.”
Later, I watched a special on VH1 Classic about eras of rock. The special was about 1965 and covered The Rolling Stones,
Eric Clapton/The Yardbirds, and
The Who, who are possibly my favorite band in terms of how much I take away from them for my own writing/feeling. When I listen to
Love, Reign O’er Me, I can feel my world go dark and become only Daltrey’s voice, Entwhistle’s bass, Townshend’s guitar, and Moon’s drumming.
Some other important bands while I’m thinking about it (in addition to all the ones mentioned above):
Queen,
Rancid,
Underoath,
The Smiths,
The Cure,
Metallica,
Black Sabbath,
Iron Maiden, (I’m tired of doing links, so go to Youtube.com and search for yourself) mewithoutYou, NOFX, Dropkick Murphys, Hillsong, Green Day, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, George Harrison, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, Ben Harper, Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Herbie Hancock, AC/DC, Beastie Boys, The Beach Boys, Ben Folds Five, Cake, The Clash, Eels, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Johnny Cash, Montgomery Gentry, Morphine, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Outkast, Rush, Self, The Specials, Stone Temple Pilots, Justin Timberlake, George Strait, The Temptation, Van Halen, AFI, Alkaline Trio, Weezer, The White Stripes, 2 Skinnee J’s…..dozens more that aren’t coming to mind.
If you were a fly hitching a ride in my car when Ariella and I are on drives, you would often hear phrases like, “Little [that's what I call Ariella], listen to this. This is [insert band name], and they are [insert choice of important, incredible, over-rated, under-rated, mind blowing, vomit-inducing, etc.] because [insert impeccable and inarguably accurate explanation].”
It’s important to me that Ariella enjoys music on a deeper level. I don’t care if she ends up loving the same music I do. I am positive each generation gathers to itself new musical tastes that their parents, mostly stuck in the ruts of their late teens and early 20s, cannot swallow. For example, my parents are totally incapable of appreciating bands like Norma Jean, Protest the Hero, Jay-Z, Ludacris, and The Dismemberment Plan. I, however, love them. My parents’ parents couldn’t swallow bands like Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones. Music is my emotional language. I believe that if I didn’t have music, I would become a shell. A turtle whose head and legs are never exposed; just a hard, unfeeling shell. Music gives me the language to express myself. The music I listen to is a manifestation of my self. It doesn’t match up along superficial lines by any means. Listening to Battles or The Bad Plus doesn’t mean I’m in a contemplative mood. Listening to The Deftones (like I am right now) doesn’t mean I’m angry. Listening to Flogging Molly doesn’t mean I’m drunk. I can’t describe how it works, but you’re going to have to believe me that music provides a canvas on which I can paint my emotions.
I’ve been feeling odd, lately. I’ve been feeling detached, solemn, aloof. From everything. I’ve masked it with being busy, but I’ve come to realize that the feeling is only partially due to the fact that I don’t have a community to feel part of right now. It is also due to the fact that I haven’t been taking the time to soak up music like my emotional fuel tanks require. Last Friday, I started to remedy this, and since then, I have had several instances of rapid refueling. Notably, I watched VH1’s Classic Albums on Nirvana’s Nevermind. I admit I’ve seen it before (and before that, I saw it once or thrice). ”Little, this is Nirvana, and they are important because they reminded the world that music isn’t only about egos.”
Then, I watched The Song Remains the Same, a live Led Zeppelin performance. I had the misfortune of noticing that Robert Plant’s jeans were so tight that they were actually worn where his penis pressed against them kind of like my wallet wears a lighter spot on my back pocket. You could see the total outline of his junk. Despite that, with eyes averted and/or closed, I was able to soak in the sound. ”Little, this is Led Zeppelin, and they are important because they played the blues with a lot of kick and had one heck of a drummer.”
Later, I watched a special on VH1 Classic about eras of rock. The special was about 1965 and covered The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton/The Yardbirds, and The Who, who are possibly my favorite band in terms of how much I take away from them for my own writing/feeling. When I listen to Love, Reign O’er Me, I can feel my world go dark and become only Daltrey’s voice, Entwhistle’s bass, Townshend’s guitar, and Moon’s drumming.
Some other important bands while I’m thinking about it (in addition to all the ones mentioned above): Queen, Rancid, Underoath, The Smiths, THe Cure, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, mewithoutYou, NOFX, Dropkick Murphys, Hillsong, Green Day, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, George Harrison, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, Ben Harper, Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Herbie Hancock, AC/DC, Beastie Boys, The Beach Boys, Ben Folds Five, Cake, The Clash, Eels, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Johnny Cash, Montgomery Gentry, Morphine, Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Outkast, Rush, Self, The Specials, Stone Temple Pilots, Justin Timberlake, George Strait, The Temptation, Van Halen, AFI, Alkaline Trio, Weezer, The White Stripes, 2 Skinnee J’s…..dozens more that aren’t coming to mind.