Music can be described in so many words, but never quite explained in one. It is a transcendent language that rises above our fearful, and ego-filled, desire to be separate and unique; it is a medium powerful enough to bring all strangers together and to help mend a heart so broken that it long quit beating with any real purpose.
Music is a soundtrack, one that plays throughout our brief time on this beautiful and challenging planet, and it requires a true listener to get the most out of that soundtrack. For some, it is a quiet radio hum that plays annoyingly in the background as they push through their predictable days, and for others, that quiet radio in the background is the only thing to look forward to; the only thing that gives them the energy to drive ahead into the long workday before them.
Music is a teacher, a friend, and a companion. It is the lifeblood of so many artists that it has to be given credit for some of the best paintings, photography, and movies we have ever been blessed enough to see. Music is an honest conscience, one that does not care about the skin that holds in the rest of it all inside. It digs deeper, and it cares about more important things; and for so many, it is absolute proof of the soul.
When I first heard of a band called Dead Can Dance, playing the in the background of a small but trendy New Age shop, surrounded by stones and pendulums and Tarot Cards, I was brought to tears with how beautiful their sound was. When I first heard Lateralus by TOOL, I knew that I would never hear an album better than this, or an album more suited to my own spiritual alignment; and it was as if I had reached an important goal in this lifetime, an understanding of my own personal idea of perfection, and the shocking new knowledge that perfection actually exists. I have often fanaticized about speaking with these artists, what would I say? How could I possibly compress all of my love for their work into a few limiting human words? The only answer is that it would be impossible; because music transcends words, music dances with time, and beyond it, music is both savior and siren, and in the end, I am left with only a simple “Thank-You”.
Music connects us to each other by memories, both good and bad, and whether we are ready for it or not, music brings to the surface, proof that the past was truly real. Those days that are gone now, and into the days we still, hopefully, have ahead of us, music will always be there to bravely weather the many storms that we will inevitably find ourselves in, and it will be there to share in those sunny days as well. The ghost of my brother resides in music, the echoes of my past are held in these intense emotional minutes, and somehow I know yours are as well.
Whatever your style, your genre, your musical addiction; wear it with pride. Defend it out loud if you must, or quietly keep it to yourself like a secret placed within an unbreakable vault, and know that on some level, we all feel that way about this incredible medium and that knowledge is what connects all of us beautiful souls.
It is one of life’s greatest tragedies, that we will never be given enough time to hear every song that could speak to our hearts, or to hear that song that brings back our cherished memories, just one more time that might make it enough to never have to hear it again.
My life has a soundtrack. It is placed on mixtape’s from a lifetime ago, hidden away in some dusty shoebox, whose whereabouts are long forgotten. My life will always have a soundtrack, one that changes and moves like the ocean itself. Our lives have soundtracks, and whether we tread the musical waters, or drown within them, it all becomes the same dance in the end and one where we are left with only two words that do not, and cannot, ever ascend to the height of the musical spires.
We can only ever say “Thank You”, and then let that sentiment spiral out, and keep going…spiral out, keep going…spiral out, keep going.
Spiral out.
Do you need music promotion? Empire Music Promotions (www.empiremusicpromotions.com) offers result based campaigns aimed at helping you build your own musical empire. Submit your music today!
Purchase the powerful new Music Marketing Book “From Indie To Empire” today on Amazon!