Just read a blog from Robert of the Radish over at Yahoo (http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/yradish/15304/songs-for-your-funeral) Most of it wasn't very insightful, but the first entry actually was quite moving. The reason it is moving to me is coincidence (the name of the song and the name of his dead sister's daughter) and also the fact that a child was left behind or hurt in some way. If I read, hear, or see anything about something bad happening to a child, especially a girl, I usually start tearing up immediately. Hell, I broke down and started crying while reading "White Night", a novel in the Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. A little girl was shot and I openly wept while reading! Sheesh!
Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I have a soft spot for children because I have a 9 year old daughter myself, so I am able to transfer that experience to myself and react as if it were happening to me. This helps me truly experience Television (even commercials!), Movies, and books. It doesn't help me with music.
Now, I love music, I write it, I listen to it constantly, I play in bands, but I never have been able to wrap my head around music for a my Funeral, most life experiences, or my Wedding even. I mean, does it actually mean something in the end? Will everyone remember? Some will, I know. Christine will remember ;) She's good at that. She can actually remember dates based around music. I can't. My life has mostly been about music, yet my life in no way revolves around it. Hell, the first 10 times I listen to a song, I almost never hear the lyrics.
I think that's the difference for me. I listen to movies and TV very intently. I read thoroughly. With music, I just feel it. I can float in it. It's just there. Music isn't active. You can passively listen to music and do other things. It's much harder to do that with something that involves the eyes.
So, music fails typically fails to do what it is intended to do for me because I'm a visual person and yet I play music every day. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll sort all this out in my head.
