by Mark Saleski
I don’t have an answer. There are plenty of songs out there with nice melodies and harmonies, and yet I don’t react to them. Heck, I’m certain that there are a lot of tunes that I can’t stand and yet still share these attributes. This edges us toward the idea of musical resonance, a topic for another day. Also, a topic whose secrets just might be impenetrable.
“Comb….your…hair……” The melody rises, the harmonies expand. At that moment I feel weightless. “Me” no longer exists. My “self” has been temporarily atomized, though my past experiences somehow manage to still play a part. This feeling is impossible to hold onto. The songs ends and I’m back at a show in a church hall in rural New Hampshire….but I’ve been changed. It feels like everybody in the room has been changed, maybe even everybody in the world.
Part of me thinks that music is so important because it can lift me away from troubles. There’s some truth to that, but it’s a mistake to think that music is mere entertainment, there to smooth out the bumpy road ahead. I know this because these very same feelings can arise when my life outside of the concert hall is just fine.
Again, I don’t have an answer. But take a look at this video. There may not be the same resonance for you, but this band is a part of your history, whether you know it or not.
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