“If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.” ~ Gustav Mahler
Anyone remember the days of stealing the telephone and escaping into your room, only to call the local radio station to have them play your request and/or dedication? I do… I totally was one of those kinds of people. Whatever was on my mind, I went to find that perfect song that was describing my personal feelings at the time. It drove my parents crazy. For one hour every Monday through Friday night, they could not find the telephone because I had it in my grasp. I try over and over and over again to get beyond the dreaded busy signal just to get in touch with the radio station and have them play that one song. Ah, fun times!!!
Now I am sure that some radio stations are around that still do so, but I haven’t actively listened to any particular radio station in quite some time. So I haven’t really given it much thought.
Until I come along certain message boards and forum that are just for general purposes. There’s a lot of people out there that just make their own musical dedications for their own reasons.
I must say that I find it amusing. Someone will have their “dedications” posted for the world to see. They feel on top of the world that they’ve found the love of their life. So they post ANYTHING that has the word “love” in the song title. And it’s not just one or two or even three times, try a few dozen times… and in a row.
And then after a while, it dies down. They still find that perfect playlist and drive each and every song into the ground as they play it over and over and over again. Then, Heaven forbid- the love of their life breaks up with them. The feelings of that high are gone, and now they are posting every song in the world that deals with heartache and pain.
To the outside person, that whole thing can be annoying. So true. However, music has a way with ALL of us. Not just those who “fall in and out of love” and those who want to share with the entire world. Music is that one thing that exists that we all enjoy. I am no exception. I listen to music every day & night. No doubt about it.
Music also alters our mood. Whether it enhances it, or changes it. I mean, who hasn’t heard a song that caused them to break down into tears? Or who hasn’t had that feeling of having a good day and then hearing a song that just takes your soul flying until you feel like you are on top of the world?
I’ve heard certain songs and it made me think of someone. Or it had triggered a memory of something. I think that is why we always enjoy making those radio dedications. We hear that perfect song that makes us think of a certain someone and we enjoy the thought we have. Yes, in fact it is a super-wonderful-fantastic feeling.
At times, music and songs allow us to express ourselves in ways that we cannot through our own words. So then we absolutely latch on to that perfect song and “dedicate it” and then stand by it until the very end. Even years later, no matter where we are in life when we hear that song, we stop and ponder the moment over again. Why? Because that song is OURS… and nobody else can have it!
To be honest I miss those days where we all passed around mix tapes. The collection of songs that we put together on one cassette that we deliberately chose to express ourselves towards another person. Now we can burn CD’s and what not- but does anyone actually have a “mix CD”? I don’t.
Anyways, I love music. I think we all do. It doesn’t matter what kind of music we choose to listen to. We all have our favorites. And we all have our personal reasons as to why they are our favorites.
So as I finish this post, I’ve turned up the stereo to listen to one song in particular that really strikes me in my heart. Such a great feeling I get when I listen to it.
Life without music is boring. I say, “TURN IT UP!”.
Dambreaker 