Post by comet on Sept 16, 2008 19:52:10 GMT
"Is music that important to you ? "
Last week I took three days off work to go to a couple of concerts. I was backed into a corner, a bit of a predicament
and asked "Is music that important to you ?" I didn't answer the question, It was not asked in a friendly tone.
But actions speak louder than words, I took the three days off anyway.
I went to the concerts with a group of what I now believe to be like minded people,
people who had traveled from the US, Germany, The Netherlands and England to be at these two Hayley Westenra Concerts in Ireland.
We all enjoyed our passion for the music, talking music over a drink or a meal or while driving from Dublin to Limerick
for the second concert, The concert in Limerick was extremely enjoyable, On a high we drove home to Dublin, Five of us in
the car singing old Nana Mouskouri songs, driving north in the moonlight. A most enjoyable few days. Well worth the effort.
We got back to Dublin and went our separate ways, one to Germany, one to the US and one to the Netherlands, myself and my wife
back to our home in Dublin a short distance from the National Concert Hall where the first concert had been.
Back to the grindstone, Back to work, Getting an earful for taking time off work and shirking other responsibilities.
I have no other concerts booked with all the gang for the future and the blues are setting in big time.
I have various five disk cd players where I work and live,
I flicked on the power switch and pressed play not sure of what was in the machine,
On came Adiemus - Songs of sanctuary. I had been mulling over that question "Is music that important to you ?"
By the third track I was feeling much better, my spirits had lifted, I was FEEDING on the music letting it HEAL my troubled mind,
By the end of the album in was in good form, During that forty minutes or so I had a "Know thyself" revelation.
Music is NOT that important to me, It is MORE Important, I need it more than food, I need it more than the company of other humans,
Music IS spirituality, I need it more than religion. I have always needed and loved music. I am suspicious of people who don't have a stereo
and a music collection in their ever so neat and tidy homes with their silverware and porcelain and crystal glass. How can they live without music ?
I am sure some people think I'm a bit daft too,
Speakers in almost every room, CDs stacked up in bundles in corners on almost any available surface.
CDs in racks stacked in front of all the LPs and cassettes that have been gathering dust since the last century,
The ceilings above sagging under the weight of boxes and boxes of 7" singles from the 60s and 70s. Shelves crammed with old sound equipment,
Turntables, cassette decks, reel to reel machines even an 8 track cartridge player somewhere, PA speakers on wardrobes and stuffed behind beds
along with the books on the Charts and music and musicians, Maybe I am mad, maybe this is not normal, but it is too me. It is THAT important !
I don't think I am alone though, some people GET music and some people just don't. Those who don't think we are a bit mad, a bit over the top.
They often like to "Attribute" other reasons as to why we like a particular artist, Infatuation at their beauty,charm or friendliness.
Many people cannot believe it IS simply the music.
Adiemus finishes playing and Christie Hennessy comes on, The album The Two Of Us, My eyes sting at the thought of the loss to the world that Christie's
death was. I listen to the whole album, Christie, singing with people he loved and who loved him in return, People who do the important thing
in life : Make music that touches the hearts and souls of millions of ordinary people all over the world,
people like me who never met him but loved him all the same. People who know that music IS MORE IMPORTANT !......
I play the whole album again and I quietly thank each and every artist on the album, even though I may never meet them, I thank them all..........
Hayley once said "It's just entertainment........ it's not that important" She's right it is not that important, It is MORE than that important.
Hayley staked her whole future on it ! Gave up her warm and secure and loving home for it, Sacrificed her potential "Secure Job Future" for music "
Hayley also sacrificed ALL her teenage years for music, for us the listeners,
out there somewhere at this moment, any moment, people are listening to Hayley's albums and quietly saying "Thank you for the music"
It IS THAT important !
Last week I took three days off work to go to a couple of concerts. I was backed into a corner, a bit of a predicament
and asked "Is music that important to you ?" I didn't answer the question, It was not asked in a friendly tone.
But actions speak louder than words, I took the three days off anyway.
I went to the concerts with a group of what I now believe to be like minded people,
people who had traveled from the US, Germany, The Netherlands and England to be at these two Hayley Westenra Concerts in Ireland.
We all enjoyed our passion for the music, talking music over a drink or a meal or while driving from Dublin to Limerick
for the second concert, The concert in Limerick was extremely enjoyable, On a high we drove home to Dublin, Five of us in
the car singing old Nana Mouskouri songs, driving north in the moonlight. A most enjoyable few days. Well worth the effort.
We got back to Dublin and went our separate ways, one to Germany, one to the US and one to the Netherlands, myself and my wife
back to our home in Dublin a short distance from the National Concert Hall where the first concert had been.
Back to the grindstone, Back to work, Getting an earful for taking time off work and shirking other responsibilities.
I have no other concerts booked with all the gang for the future and the blues are setting in big time.
I have various five disk cd players where I work and live,
I flicked on the power switch and pressed play not sure of what was in the machine,
On came Adiemus - Songs of sanctuary. I had been mulling over that question "Is music that important to you ?"
By the third track I was feeling much better, my spirits had lifted, I was FEEDING on the music letting it HEAL my troubled mind,
By the end of the album in was in good form, During that forty minutes or so I had a "Know thyself" revelation.
Music is NOT that important to me, It is MORE Important, I need it more than food, I need it more than the company of other humans,
Music IS spirituality, I need it more than religion. I have always needed and loved music. I am suspicious of people who don't have a stereo
and a music collection in their ever so neat and tidy homes with their silverware and porcelain and crystal glass. How can they live without music ?
I am sure some people think I'm a bit daft too,
Speakers in almost every room, CDs stacked up in bundles in corners on almost any available surface.
CDs in racks stacked in front of all the LPs and cassettes that have been gathering dust since the last century,
The ceilings above sagging under the weight of boxes and boxes of 7" singles from the 60s and 70s. Shelves crammed with old sound equipment,
Turntables, cassette decks, reel to reel machines even an 8 track cartridge player somewhere, PA speakers on wardrobes and stuffed behind beds
along with the books on the Charts and music and musicians, Maybe I am mad, maybe this is not normal, but it is too me. It is THAT important !
I don't think I am alone though, some people GET music and some people just don't. Those who don't think we are a bit mad, a bit over the top.
They often like to "Attribute" other reasons as to why we like a particular artist, Infatuation at their beauty,charm or friendliness.
Many people cannot believe it IS simply the music.
Adiemus finishes playing and Christie Hennessy comes on, The album The Two Of Us, My eyes sting at the thought of the loss to the world that Christie's
death was. I listen to the whole album, Christie, singing with people he loved and who loved him in return, People who do the important thing
in life : Make music that touches the hearts and souls of millions of ordinary people all over the world,
people like me who never met him but loved him all the same. People who know that music IS MORE IMPORTANT !......
I play the whole album again and I quietly thank each and every artist on the album, even though I may never meet them, I thank them all..........
Hayley once said "It's just entertainment........ it's not that important" She's right it is not that important, It is MORE than that important.
Hayley staked her whole future on it ! Gave up her warm and secure and loving home for it, Sacrificed her potential "Secure Job Future" for music "
Hayley also sacrificed ALL her teenage years for music, for us the listeners,
out there somewhere at this moment, any moment, people are listening to Hayley's albums and quietly saying "Thank you for the music"
It IS THAT important !
Can anybody offer me a hand and pull me back to Hayley's songs? 
) I can't think of any of my friends or acquaintances who preferred classical music, despite the fact that my Mum was classically trained and sang semi-professionally in her younger days.