The way it hits the ear when you’re at a certain moment in life, songs tend to encapsulate more than fleeting moments.
do you have a song where you remember exactly where you were at the exact first moment you heard it? Are you a person who becomes alert to the melody first, then listens to the words second? Or which? There is such a delicate balance of play between melodic catchiness and emotion when words manage to communicate without cliche. And when you least expect it, there it is back in your life like it never left - but this time with more nostalgia. What a gift - to be able to transport back to the emotions you were experiencing, but with more wisdom.
Goo goo dolls iris holds up for me a time in my life when so much was unsure. I was a youth, I had my Walkman with me all the time, I would tape the radio, and replay songs over and over and over again. I’m not sure what I was wearing that day or where we were going. But when I hear it, I swear I am looking out the same car window, turning at fourth line and lakeshore, and passing the high school that I would later attend. It struck a chord in me. It holds an emotional power that is only unlocked by those particular sounds and words put together and presented in that unique way. That song transports me.
I fall in love again with what i accepted and wanted to hear when the relationship with the song first began. It gives again!
if you can come back to a song like that, in a new way, and you still get all the feels, then it’s a song you should keep.
And in one note at the start of the song, I am in the backyard, standing alone. And listening. And in awe.
I love it. I loved it then, and I love it now. That love will never fade. It just may not come around as often.
To me the point of the song is to open up your vulnerability and challenge it. A good song tells you how you feel about something without directly asking. And a great song makes your mind figure out some pretty awesome shit! You can see things based on lyrics with images, you can be inspired to move your body in a certain way. You can gain confidence to do something or say something to people in your life. It teaches you to put aside mundanety and see something.
let a song guide you. If it is a good one - you’ll know.
