Maybe I should post a warning for unsuspecting readers: Don't read any further unless you delight in reading miserable drivel.
I think I should perhaps reveal the address of my other blog where all the 'good' posts go but that could possibly spoil my image as a grumpy old man.
I've really enjoyed writing some of this stuff as it seems to get ideas that I feel I may be obsessing over into print, and out of my head and is a good record and reflection of my mood at a particular time.
I can read back from this point in the future and a little unlike a diary pick up on my feelings and as there is plenty of space here to ramble and rant on, I don't have to suffer wondering what I was referring to back then, that was obviously so important.
One of my favourite lines from a song is from "Remote" by Hue and Cry. Just think how many song lyrics there are and how some may be really special to you for any number of reasons. From time to time you hear a lyric from the myriad songs available and in one particular moment of time and space dependant on your mood or some life event you will know exactly what the person that wrote it meant and you will forever identify with that song as something special.
'I am remote from you now. Remote as old diary phrases.'
Other songs may be a struggle for us to understand what on earth (or otherwise!) is being referred to - some lyrics just totally fall out of your frame of reference and may therefore appear to be incomprehensible - or may just be something nonsensical that we aren't supposed to understand. If you 'get' a writers lyrics, particularly if you are in the right frame of mind, you may really feel a bond with the writer and support them in buying their music or going to one of their gigs and get a massive kick out of either or both.
A band from the late 90s which had some extremely odd lyrics in its songs was Mansun - a much underrated outfit in my opinion though I didn't understand a lot of their words but just liked the tunes in a lot of their recordings. On one of their albums there is the fabled 'hidden track' where the band reveal 'The lyrics aren't supposed to mean that much. They're just a vehicle for a lovely voice. They aren't supposed to mean that much.'
Which brings me rather neatly to an unanswered question. Given that I've discussed how one may feel at a particular time and how a song may relate to your life in an incredible way and then becomes emotionally engaging in some way in a hypothetical example where you may have broken up with your significant other and hear some of that miserable 'Adele' type music (sorry - try as much as I can, I just can't like it....) and then develop this emotional attachment and possibly always trigger this feeling whenever you hear this song, for the rest of your life. So here's the question - answers on a postcard please:
Over a significant period of my life I have listened to classical music - even more so over the last 18 months and now have virtually stopped listening to most other types of radio or other music in favour of classical in its many and varied forms. I've also been going to a series of live classical concerts performed by our local excellent symphony orchestra during this time. How is it, that certain phrases of music can instill such passionate feelings in one. For example, a quiet violin solo in the middle of something loud can if played correctly give you a feeling of such joy that you feel your emotions brimming over and tears forming. Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations has such a structure and I find it difficult to listen to, without feeling overwhelmed by emotion. This feeling seems to be amplified during a 'live' performance too which can lead to embarrassing struggles to keep a stiff upper lip what? Even in performances of as yet unheard tunes - so it isn't something that we have an emotional attachment with like an old song, and there are no lyrics to help with the tune here, a particular passage can bring such feelings of joy or sadness - but why is this so? Perhaps it is something to do with the frequency of the sound and the way that our bodies may resonate at a particular frequency.
It's a mystery to me. I've read a lot of theories in the subject but I don't think anything has ever been 'proven' to date. If this idea of frequency resonance is correct - how can two people sitting next to each other be differently affected. How is it that music in general has the power to move one so much in a way that other things can not. How often have you been moved by a scene in a movie, and find later that it was perhaps the music that actually caused (or at least greatly enhanced) your reaction? I know that it has happened to me countless times.
I don't have the answer but I'd be interested to know what your opinion is. Feel free to post below - the only prize will be my gratitude for taking the time to read this and respond. That's it for this post. I hope you weren't disappointed that it's not one of my usual rants, but you can always look further down for those.......
TTFN
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