The Emotional Impact of Music

It was suggested to me by a friend that my next blog be about music.  I thought about making a top 10 list or critiquing an album, but instead I decided on a slightly different theme.  The list you're about to read isn't a list of my favorite songs, but a list of a songs that make me feel something strongly.  The best way to read this particular blog is to actually click and listen to the songs I talk about.  Try it, you might like it.

Mad World - Gary Jules 

Though the lyrics don't say much to me, this song reminds me of how insane and senseless the world can be sometimes.  The simplicity of a voice, a piano, and a cello express so much with so little.

Look right through me, look right through me

Congratulations - Blue October
Love is not a feeling to feel, but a promise to keep.  A broken promise creates a broken heart.  A broken heart can hold no promises.

I came to see the light in my best friend
You seemed as happy as you'd ever been
My chance of being open was broken
And now you're Mrs. him.

My words they don't come out right
But I'll try to say I'm happy for you
I think I'm going to take that drive
I want to give you something
I've been wanting to give to you for years
My heart

Dead Memories - Slipknot

You can't live in the past and let your dead memories stop you from letting go.

We were never alive, and we won't be born again.
But I'll never survive with Dead Memories in my heart.

Lateralus - Tool

Ok, so this is one of my favorite songs.  It represents my tendency to predict, analyze, and extrapolate possible paths in my social interactions with people.  Given limited data, I fill in outcomes and apply contingencies well before they've happened due to my pessimistic nature.  After a single romantic encounter, I'm already imagining all of the possibilities and protecting myself from the negative ones.  

Sometimes, I just want to cross the line, embrace the random, feel the rhythm, and lose my self between the sounds.  Just let go.

As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.  

Passive - A Perfect Circle

Honestly, I really like belting this song out when I hear it.  It gives me intense feelings; I'm just not sure why.

Passive aggressive bullshit 

Flood - Jars of Clay

For those that don't know, this is a Christian band that I used to listen to a lot back in the day.  Though I've given up on Christian music as a whole, Jars of Clay certainly captures why a lot of people come to religion in the first place.  When all hope is lost and you're drowning in a sea of despair, the only thing you desperately long for is a hand to reach down and save you. 

My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mud

And on that note, Jars of Clay gets two entries.

Worlds Apart - Jars of Clay

I add this with mixed emotions.  I don't advocate for any religion; in truth, I wish all people could follow the golden rule without an eternal reward or condemnation to motivate them.  I also wish people realized community, charity, and morality are not exclusive to religion but can be practiced by all.  That being said, this is not a blog about religion so I'll get off my soapbox.  

To me, this song represents the ideal of worship and faith in something beyond oneself and why it's such a powerful narcotic.  The song has the same pull to me now as it did when I actually had faith.  It feels good to know you're redeemable and unconditionally loved by someone who can never disappoint you.

So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
take it now, take it now
and serve the ones that I despise
speak the words I can't deny
watch the world I used to love
fall to dust and thrown away

Fireflies - Owl City

Oh yeah, that just happened.  Naysayers be damned [*Chris].  This song makes me feel good about life and I can't say that many songs put me in a great mood.  Fireflies makes me want to dance in the rain, gaze at the stars, and imagine a better future as the planet earth turns slowly.  Haters gonna hate.

Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance

 What music emotionally charges you?