Seriously...I LOVE IT. MUSIC. I just love it.
I think for a time, I got away from blasting the radio. Maybe it was the babies. Or NPR has some interesting shows to listen to as I design.
But Music is king these days...once again.
Growing up, my room was in the basement, under the baby grand piano in the living room. Only it wasn't called a living room. It was always the Music Room. (Yes I was a grouchy teen who didn't want to hear that noise when I wanted to chill-lax. Come on...those pianists weren't good yet!) My mom taught us songs as we rode in the car. As a young girl, my parents had us singing in church regularly too. I was taught the recorder in 4th grade by my elementary school teacher. In 5th, I joined up with the band...even though I picked a stinky instrument to play. (Not sure if that was b/c I didn't have a true conviction for what I liked or if it was just an instrument that was available?) That instrument changed over and over again. I loved making music. Even when my high school band director was cruel and didn't see my potential or interest. It was still there. Whether I was squirrelled away in my room with the radio on WMMS, or cruising around in cars with boys, the radio was on..and I was flipping channels.
I was a DJ in college for the local college station. I was lucky to be an art student in an age before mp3 players...where radios played in all the studios. I went to a lot of big concerts back in the 90s. The first Lollapallooza. The first Woodstock reunion. WOMAD. And everything in between.
Years ago, very pregnant with my first child, Ken and I started searching for a piano. It was time for music in the home. We probably looked like Mary and Joseph the day we found the piano that now sits in our own music room. It was exactly a week before I gave birth. It was a Sunday morning...we were on our way to church. And I had to shyly ask if they could hold it for us until tomorrow when we could pay. Ken says he knew it was the one b/c of my smile.
When my kids were young and Ken worked late hours and I was DONE with the day at 5:30 pm and the dishes still had to be done after dinner, bathtime, bed time...seemed like forever...I'd flip on the stereo and crank up Broadway musicals. It made the work go quicker. It cheered up the atmosphere in the house. The volume drowned out any other noise. You can get lost in the words, the noise, the beat.
At one low point in m life, a friend typed up a hymn which to this day hangs on my fridge. I would stand in front of that paper on those dark times and sing it. I'd hum it. I'd think about it. The music, the words, the feelings.
Now I'm the mom that teaches songs as we drive. I have finally gotten #1 to play the piano. He picks it up so quickly. #2 has such a lovely touch and she is getting to that point that she wants to sit down and learn. We have family songs special to only us. Songs taught by my grandfathe to me and me to my own kids. We have a special song we sing to new babies. My eldest is now in 4th grade...and just got his recorder last Friday. You can bet he is blowing on it every time I turn around.
Me and the Piano? Hey...still working on it myself. Song books filled with songs of bygone eras. Which of course...my kids are learning. Other instruments? Well, I have finally started telling people that I wanted to buy one. A trumpet maybe. Not sure. Something. Just to play. Just for fun. Lately I'm thinking...maybe a guitar. (Since I had tried to pick it up once...but it didn't last since I wasn't doing my chores to keep up with playing it. haha)
In the meantime...we rock out. We sing out. Christmas songs, rock songs, church songs. Songs from the 50s, 60s anthems, 70s air guitar, the 80s I grew up on ...and everything that came after. #1 is definitely a classic rock man. #2...loves the lyrics. She has been asking to google a lot of today's song lyrics....wants them on her mp3 player, and years ago, snagged her dad's old cd player as her own.
I remember going to a U2 concert where the entire colliseum repeat the chorus of a famous song...until the band came back out to do an encore. Wow...that was cool. Why else is music used in movies, plays, grocery stores, churches, even elevators. haha. That's the thing about music. It unifies. It can pick you up. It can energize you. IF you don't hear music in your life, you are definitely missing something. Go get a radio...blast it. Pick up an instrument and relearn it...just for fun. Sing. Sing loud. Just like that Sesame Street song:
Sing ( sing . . ) sing a song ( sing . . )
Sing out loud, sing out strong,
Sing of good things, not bad,
Sing of happy, not sad . . .
Sing, sing a song,
Make it simple, to last your whole life long,
Don't worry that it's not good enough,
For anyone else to hear,
Sing, sing a song . . .
