Music Therapy

I think I've said this before but it doesn't hurt to repeat it. I love music. Really, what's not to love? Music has an impact on me and many others that has shaped and at times, defined my life.

I'm reading a book right now about a woman who is a music therapist. She uses music to work with emotional issues, trauma victims and disabilities. The concept sparked interest for me and I've googled and binged it enough to now believe music therapy is an excellent option for people who fall into those categories. I firmly believe for many, music is therapy.

I grew up listening to music. I remember nights sitting in our living room with my dad, listening to the Glenn Miller Orchestra or Neil Diamond and countless other performers from the 40's and 50's. We'd sit and listen and eat Malted Milk Balls while drinking calorie laden Dr. Pepper from glass bottles. I could afford to drink full throttle drinks like that as a child. Now? Not so much. Today when I hear "Chattanooga Choo Choo" or "Cherry Cherry" I almost feel transported back in time to that same living room and the little girl I used to be. Granamials and all.

I admit to being picky about my music. I like what I like and it's not always what someone else likes. Come to think of it, that's pretty much how I am about most everything in my life. I'm not closed minded about music but I have a preference and I can tell, immediately if something I hear is going to be a winner for me or not. First impressions are everything, I guess.

My husband and I disagree about the purpose of music in life. He defines it as background noise. Something he can take or leave. I consider it something much more substantial. Neil Diamond has a song called "Song Sung Blue". The premise of the words is that most people, when sad, turn on a song to validate those feelings and wallow, so to speak but once the music plays, they can't help but sing along and ultimately feel better. There's just something in the chords, the words, the rhythm...something that sparks our happy to push through and make an appearance. He's right. Sometimes even a sad song can make me feel better.

Music has a connection to my past, my present and my future. I can sit in a room, listen to my iTouch and think about any phase in my life, past or future, in relation to a song. "Against All Odds", an 80's classic, brings back memories of my first real love and the emotional torture I felt when it ended. Of course now I don't feel that torture. Instead, I feel nostalgic and it reminds me of the innocence of that time, not the pain and drama I felt then. Phil Collins can take me back to that innocence in three minutes, like it was just yesterday.

Right Now by Valen Halen (the Sammy years, which I liked much more than the DLR ones), is a theme song of sorts for me. The song focuses me on the now and the future. What I'm doing now impacts what I'll do later so make now worth it. Make it count. What's stopping me? I listen to that song every time I'm on the elliptical at the gym and I want to get off. It reminds me of why I'm there in the first place.

Music is about emotion. It's a beat stuck in our head that can drive us crazy (that It's Friday song needs to be put out of it's misery, please) or a phrase that makes us feel good (I can't sing Hey Soul Sister and feel bad. I just can't). Music can lift me out of what's happening now and transport me anywhere I want to be. I miss my mom, so I listen to country from the 80's because she loved that. I miss my dad and Frank Sinatra's Summer Wind connects me to him.

Yes, I'm picky. I prefer male voices to female, though there are some I like. I have no interest in rap or hip hop and really, jazz doesn't do a whole lot for me. I tend to gravitate toward 'rockabilly', BoDeans, Blue Rodeo, the like. I like what most radio stations never play and have my iTouch near my side 24/7 - except the hell of losing it for 42 days though it was right in front of me the whole time. Pure torture, really.

Some people don't really feel the same about music and it makes me sad for them. They're missing out on so much. My daughter never understood my attachment to music. I remember telling her that one day it would make a big difference in her life and she'd have it on all of the time. She couldn't see that as an option but now, she totally gets it. At least, after all this time, I did something right!

Music, Mayhem and Madness

My daughter is completing college application essays. I feel for her because not only does she hate to write, she's not the best at it, either. She's applying to the University of Georgia and one of the required essay questions is:

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent."
Victor Hugo
If someone were to look at your music collection right now, they would probably know a great deal about who you are. Individuals are drawn to music, and each song conveys something about that person. Select a musical piece to be your theme song. Tell us what it would be, and more specifically, why it represents who you are. (200 Word Limit)

I would write it for her but I don't know much about the music she listens to and therefore can't even pick a song. Actually, between you and me, I don't want to write it anyway!

It did, however, get me thinking about music. I love music. Since I was a little girl, it's always been a part of my life. I remember sitting in my childhood living room listening to "A Hole in the Bucket" and "Sweet Caroline" while eating Malted Milk Balls and drinking Dr. Pepper with my dad.

Songs bring back memories and feelings and take me back in time. They remind me of friends, of situations and events; some good and some well, not so much.

I'm not sure though, if there is a song that defines me. I think that's a hard essay to write. There are songs that relate to times in my life but I don't think I can pick just one song as my theme. There are simply too many me's to consider.

There's the mom-me. She loves "Can't Touch This" because my son dances to it as a bribe to get Dairy Queen. He doesn't know I'm usually planning to get it for him anyway and I'm not going to tell him because I love to see him dance!

There's the misses my mom-me. I can barely listen to Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" without bursting into tears.

There's the wife-me who loves basically every cheesy love song out there and thinks about her husband during each of them.

Then I've got the 7th and 8th Grade Carolyn who loves Air Supply and REO Speedwagon's "Time for Me to Fly". The single woman who thinks BoDeans rule. This one also ties to a friend who went to virtually every BoDeans concert with me. There's my spin class songs that make me want to exercise and 80's music that makes me feel like a high school kid again.

There are just too many songs to define who I am at any given moment. What I can define though, is what music does for me. It inspires me. It releases me. It brings out feelings in me, some I like and some that just need to be released. It makes me happy. Motivates me. Annoys me. Sticks in my head until I can't stand it anymore and gets lost in time with barely a verse remembered.

Music helps me get through hard times. It makes the fun times more fun. It brightens my mood. It makes me dance (mostly by myself because I am not a good dancer!).

I'm not sure how my daughter plans to write this essay but I hope she finds a song to help her through it.