The Power of Music

I used to make mixed tapes.  I remember receiving a mixed tape from a boy in 6th grade with songs like Shoop, Rump Shaker, Jump, Runaway Train, and I Would Do Anything for Love.  (6th grade - what did WE know about music then?  Rump Shaker? Apparently not much!)  Then when things went digital, I was able to make mixed CD's.  I've probably created over a hundred mixed CD's and gave them creative titles like "Random Good Songs", "Passion", "Country-ish", and "Chile Chill".  Now with iTunes, we can capture any sort of feeling we want to by creating playlists, and we are no longer limited to 80 minutes!  The iPod has changed the way we listen to music.  Instead of waiting for our favorite song to come on the radio, when we used to run over to the tape player and quickly press "record" to capture as much of the song as we could, music is on demand.  It took me less than three seconds to locate each of the above songs from 6th grade on YouTube.


Because virtually every song is now at our fingertips, I am noticing that we don't take the time to appreciate songs like we used to.  People mention a song and we pull out our iPhones or Palms and simply locate it on the iTunes store.  I know I'm guilty of listening to the first 30 seconds of the song and then skipping to the next one because I simply don't have time.  And with music lovers purchasing their favorite singles on iTunes instead of buying the entire album, we miss out on the story the artist is trying to tell from beginning to end, the essence of the album.


A good friend and I were talking recently about how we never just listen to music anymore.  Truly just listen, rock out by ourselves, while doing nothing else.  In college, I'd spend hours in my dorm room listening to music while cleaning my room, talking with friends, flipping through magazines.  Now the TV is always going and I'm running off to my next activity.  That other stuff is just "busy noise" that gets in the way.  Music can show us the way, teach us how to feel or what to believe.  It can bring us back to that first kiss, that first dance, that first road trip with a best friend.  Music has a way of bringing us back to an exact memory, reminding us of what we loved or hated about a particular situation.  And I simply don't take enough time to listen to it anymore, truly listen.


I recently started a playlist called "Oh the Nostalgia".  And that's exactly what it is, a list of songs that bring me back to a certain feeling, a certain time in my life.  It's a great way to capture memories in a way that photos, stories, or words can't even do.


My Nostalgia playlist includes songs like Ben Harper's "Forever", Springsteen's "Born to Run", and Spin Doctors' "Two Princes".  What's on your Nostalgia playlist?  I urge you to try to define it.  This year, I vow to spend more time just sitting, doing nothing but reveling in the joy of listening to good music.