The Magic Of Music

And Why I Love It So Much

I’ve always loved music. I’m not a musician, or a singer, but I love the effect that music has on me. I love how it can often express far more effectively, what words cannot.

The thing is, music speaks to my soul. It’s lilting melodies reach into the depths of my heart and often pull out emotions that I didn’t even know were there.

I listen to music, probably for at least a third of the day. I have it on while I write; while I drive; while I make art, and while I craft. I listen to all different kinds of music, and it often depends on my mood.

I have an incredibly eclectic taste in music, and I have absolutely no ‘guilty pleasures’. In fact, I hate that phrase! If I like a song, then I like it, and I’m not going to pretend that I don’t because it isn’t ‘hip’, or ‘on trend’.

It makes me so angry when people feel like they have to be ashamed of the music that they like, just because others might make fun of them.

My niece asked me a while back, what music I liked, and I told her “pretty much anything”. Then she said that she meant which genre, to which I replied, “pretty much anything”.

This seemed to totally confuse her, and she couldn’t comprehend that my likes in music were not confined to a specific genre, but that’s just how it is. It’s how it’s always been.

I grew up in the 90’s, when we used to record our favourite songs from the radio onto cassettes. I remember one such cassette, which I had labelled with the artist on it, and I lent this cassette to a friend, who told me the following day that she had removed the label, because she was worried that other people might see it and make fun of her for listening to that artist.

This just made me feel incredibly sad for her, that she wasn’t able to allow herself to express her likes and dislikes freely. The artist in question is still making music, and in spite of battling a chronic illness, is doing incredibly well for herself in the industry.

The thing I’m trying to get at, is that music is a powerful, personal thing, and I refuse to allow it to be pigeon holed in my life. I can count on one hand, the number of songs that I dislike enough to actively avoid listening to, and I am proud of that fact.

I feel that having an open mind like this helps to inform my writing, as I am able to select the songs, which are most appropriate for the tone of the piece I am writing.

Of course, there are certain tracks, which I always find myself adding to my writing playlist of the day, but then there are others, which will appeal more directly to the story in question.

I feel that I am incredibly lucky to have this attitude towards music, and I can honestly say that it opens a lot of doors for me, creatively speaking, within my mind, which might otherwise remain closed.

Which songs to you find yourself adding to your playlists?