Music 2

Yesterday I wrote about my Batdorf & McLean CD and I've been thinking about that post since then. I was wondering why something like this speaks to my soul, when so much other music doesn't.

I love music. In church, during musical numbers, I close my eyes so I can concentrate completely on the music. When I attend the Nutcracker, I go for the music, more than the performance. The same with the Phantom of the Opera - it was the music I loved.

So, why don't I listen to popular music? I haven't missed American Idol since the 2nd season started - so it's not that I don't like this music - it's just that I don't buy it and listen to it. Here's why: The songs get stuck in my head. Seriously stuck.

Last week, I saw a Justin Bieber look alike on American's Got Talent. A line from the song she sang has been going around and around in my head since. It's so bad, that if I wake up in the night, those words are there and when I get up, etc. Anytime I'm not consciously thinking of something else, that tape is playing in my head.

What's wrong with that? A couple of weeks ago, I listened to one of my favorites, Natasha Bedingfield, while I exercised. For the next week I found myself singing "I'm single and I like it that way" over and over. Well, I'm neither single, nor do I want to go through any of the things that would make me that way, so even though I like the song, I didn't like the verse that stayed with me.

However, with Batdorf & McLean, I figure I'm generally safe. If I repeat "I will not be afraid" or "All that's wrong in your life, let it go" or "from the broken pieces of my life, you could see all I could be if I was whole . . ." I don't feel like I'm programming something negative into my brain by repetition.

Mostly, I think there's something different about music that invites the Spirit. It doesn't invade my mind. I can easily recall it when I want to and it makes me feel good every time, but it doesn't plant itself in there and refuse to go away.

I don't know - maybe I'm the only one that has this problem. All I know is that I'm more careful these days with the music I repeatedly listen to. It makes me kind of wish that Pyotr Tchaikovsky was still here writing music.

I'm just glad for the modern composers who write the songs that lift my soul.
I thank you all.