Music, Music, Music

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." William Congreve

Recently my boss has allowed us to bring in headsets and CDs to listen to providing we answer the phones promptly and take care of the customers when they come in and providing that no one else is bothered by other people’s music. You can listen to music but you must be able to do your work. The atmosphere is so tense where I work that I jumped at the chance to listen to something that I found soothing. For the couple of us who absolutely hate the politics going on we are now able to block out the voices of the back stabbers.

When I need to destress I will grab for my Oriental or Celtic music. If I’m having trouble sleeping I go for “Zen and the Art of Relaxation” by Anzan or “Feng Shui, Music for Balance and Harmony” by The Blue Cliff Ensemble or “Asian Serenity” by Guan Guo Sheng. Sometimes I will go Celtic with Carlyle Fraser’s “Celtic Serenity” or “Celtic Spa”. I have a lot of music by Clannad and Loreena McKennitt. My grandniece wanted to know what type of music do I listen to when I write or do artwork. Celtic based music is usually the way I go when creating.

I grew up with the Beatles and the Dave Clark Five and still have the original mono albums by many of the artists of those days. These days if I am rocking out I am rocking to Bono and U2. Elton John is still where I can reach him easily. My car has Bryan Adams in its player at the moment.

There are some artists I’ll listen to when I want to enjoy the lyrics as well as the music. Gordon Lightfoot has long been a favorite of mine. I saw the late John Denver in concert many times and one of my happiest memories is the evening that I took my Dad to see him. I didn’t know that he really loved John Denver until the drive home when he thanked me with tears in his eyes for taking him. My youngest brother sent me a couple of CDs from Hal Ketchum that still get plenty of airplay.

A group I have seen perform many times is the Moody Blues. I love their music. I remember seeing them at the Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver on a cold and cloudy night. In the middle of “Night in White Satin” as the orchestra swelled and the lyrics “and I love you” rang out the clouds in front of the moon moved and a bright full moon shown down on everyone. What an amazing special effect Nature gave us that night.

Another big love of mine is musicals. Being a theater major I love musical theater. I often will stick in “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Miserables”, or “Chicago.” My Dad had albums of all the great musicals like “Oklahoma”, “Carousel”, “Porgy and Bess,” Stop the World I Want to Get Off.” I grew up with that music. Telling stories through music is a wonderful thing.

I remember music on two very special occasions the wedding of close friends and the wedding for my niece. For my friends I sang two songs, Noel Paul Stookey’s “The Wedding Song” and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. The second one brought tears and hugs and thanks for singing it. My niece wanting a Celtic flavor wedding asked me to do “The Irish Wedding Song”. It has become a special song for me because it reminds me of such a happy day.

Music for me is the key to reconnecting with serenity. In a life that is increasingly hectic and frustrating the ability to plug in earphones and let the sounds wash over me is important to my well-being. Now that the taxes are out of the way I can devote the rest of the weekend to revamping my art web site. For that task I am thinking either Seamus Kennedy or the Irish Rovers. Sometimes you need music accompanied by the sillies.