Music is Life

November 14, 2010

From the time I was a young child, I loved music.  I loved children artists such as Raffi and Alvin and the Chipmunks.  As an addition, Debbie Gibson, Paula Abdul, and Madonna were my favorite artists.  My mother also used to play music from her younger days: The Beatles, Derek and the Dominoes, The Rolling Stones and The Doors.  This was a great introduction to the vast differences in the music available.  She would also educate me on the history of the bands and their song inspirations.
As I grew older, my musical tastes progressed, and I started to listen to bands like No Doubt, Guns n Roses, and Eminem.  Also, I began to enjoy watching movies because of what the film contributed to my musical library.

My favorite movies as a child were Grease, Crybaby, and Hairspray, simply because they were considered musicals.  In fact, any film, which possessed a great musical soundtrack, I wanted to see again and again.  I would listen to specific songs on repeat to the point where the cassette would be ruined because of the relentless play.  The particular song resonated with me in an unexplainable way.

Music has always been a form of escapism for me: a place to daydream without guilt or effort; a way to set tone or my mood or to release a mood from my conscious, or to simply control the sounds of my surroundings.  There is no more proof of that than currently.

Living in China, I have come to rely on music more than ever before.  When my apartment is full of silence, I turn on my music playlist.  When I walk to the school, I make sure to have a bass sound filled morning before my day begins.  When I sit on my chair on the bus, I tune out the sounds of the road and the called bus stops.  I have said that if I was to be on a deserted island, all I would need was my iPod and an outlet to charge it.  In some ways, China is my deserted island.  It is the existence of a person alone with their thoughts; not a familiar soul to share experiences with or socialize with.  If music or new music was not viable to me, it would make this experience close to impossible to handle.  Listening to music is me shutting myself out to the chaos and alienation I tend to experience in China.

Music is such an amazing outlet of self-expression.  There are songs, which hit me due to the certain riff included in the song or hit me because of a particular bass sound.  The ability of an artist to play an instrument that influences my interest; the ability of an artist to sing a note with a particular tone that intrigues me is the most stunning part about it.  I was also big into dancing growing up.  I still am.  It can be explained because music and dance go together perfectly.  Both are expressions from the same foundation.  These two venues of entertainment, I consider my talent.

I am a fanatic about music and I consider myself an avid music collector, however, not all music, not all songs.  In my six years of owning an iPod, my seventeen years collecting music, I have, surprisingly, less than 1200 songs to my name.  The reason is because I don’t download albums; I don’t purchase music just because of a certain artist.  I have music genres spanning from rock, techno, French pop, to Latin yet my collection is still considered small compared to many other people.  Unfortunately, the older I become, the more critical I am towards music.  When I was younger, I wasn’t nearly as picky.  I liked most songs I heard, then again, this was the time I was listening to one standard kind of music such as just pop or rock and roll.  Despite the fact I am more picky, I am much more open-minded.  This would explain why I have French music included in my music repertoire as well as many different rap artists and songs.  Music, to me, is not a specific genre.  The best music, blends elements of all categories of music.  It is the rap artist who mixes a song with rock, techno, and Latin beats; the pop artist who entices listeners with country.  It explains why earlier singers, such as Elvis Presley, were such a world sensation or a modern day crossover artist like Shakira. Music, at least, good music, is so varied; listing genres of the kind of music is pointless.  It is also pointless to have a favorite musical genre for the same cause of variation.  To end, music is life—my life.  How I love thee.

Live Your Dreams_Antoine Clamaran (ft._Soraya Arnelas)

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