Musical Musings

Something that most people know about me: I love music. I love live music, recorded music, intimate concerts at local spots, random musicians that no one has heard of...the list goes on. For as long as I can remember this has been the case. With those things said, I ran across a song this summer that brings me to tears because of its beauty and its pain. I am listening to it right now in the calm of the afternoon, windows open with a cool breeze outside, and it's hitting me hard... It is called "Falling Slowly" by the Frames:

I don't know you but I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me and always fool me
And I can't react

You have suffered enough and what with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time, raise your hopeful voice
You had the choice, you've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'll paint it black

Games that never amount
To more than themselves
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time, raise your hopeful voice
You had the choice, you've made it now

I step into the song and step into someone else's heartbreak, hardship, and love for another. Music can do this to you in a very moving way. As musician Emmanuel Jal has said, "Music is the only thing that can speak to your mind and heart without your permission. I don’t know what you can compare to music. If there was no music, this world would be mad.” (http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/07/born-into-war.html)

Music has a certain power to it that nothing else does, and the way that it loosens up our hearts is pretty amazing. Beyond that, this song is lovely; the voices are beautiful, and I can feel the heart and soul of the musicians through their rising tones.