Music, Poets, and a Dash of Rambling

Hello Readers,

           Music... What is it?



     Well, the definition of this word is: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

        But what is it really? Is music something that can be summed up in a mere sentence? I don't know, to be honest. But for me, music isn't something I can just put in a box and tie a big bow around.

         People react to music different ways, I suppose. I listen to music, well, when I listen to a song for the very first time, I give it all my attention. I close my eyes and I listen. I digest it, I process it, and then I pick it apart. Carefully. Scrutinizingly. Deciding if this song deserves my undivided attention.

        I look for the underlying meanings in songs, I look for the hidden messages, I look to fill in the gaps. And that's why I'm extremely careful on what music I listen to. Because music affects me, and it affects me deeply. Music isn't just something we can listen to and brush off.

        I've thought things and felt feelings through music that were mind blowing. I've felt the presence of God just by listening to music. Just drinking it in. And this is why I am so careful.

        Because when I listen to something, it stays with me. Little fragments of songs floating around in my brain, little whispers that guide me. Little nudges in the right direction.

         And this is why, you'll find songs with deep lyrics on my iTunes, and no, I don't have Gangham Style, or that new "Whip" song everyone is raving about, because I am a lyric person.

        If the lyrics mean nothing, or are poorly written, the whole song is just a waste of time for me. And most of the time, when people say "This song makes no sense", it just means they aren't looking
hard enough. Because almost 99% of the time, the meaning is there, you just have to look hard for it.

        Poets are people who hear music when the music stopped playing. They hear the lyrics in the sun shining and the wind blowing through their hair. Poets are the listeners to the music no one else can hear. And sometimes, these poets don't even write. But they hear the music just the same.

       So, can you hear the music, readers? Do you hear it?

"And you keep on dreamin'
When the dreams all fade
When friends desert me
You're the ones who stay
To write the prayers when every prayer had been prayed
You are the poets I have known" 
-Andrew Peterson