My Practically Perfect Life

I have written a lot about music. It is something I will forever be able to talk about. Any type of music. Gospel, bring it! I was raised in a Baptist church. Instrumental, come on with it! I was raised by a band director and elementary music teacher! Classical, Oldies, Classic Rock, Jazz…that is what I grew up on. My parents did not take my brothers and I to Disney or the beach, instead we went to see Phil Collins or sit front row at a Chicago concert. What 16 year old wants to go see Elton John?! Well maybe these days a bit more, but in 1996 not many. But I did! My love for music and live music has been passed on to my children. Especially Big, my baby that is 17.

Why is music so amazing? Let me tell you. As Stevie Wonder once said “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand”. That is so deep when you think about it. It doesn’t matter if there are words, or if the words are in a language you don’t speak, you can still enjoy it. Because music touches your soul unlike anything else. Think about it, there is music for every occasion. Sad? There is music for that. Happy? Music for that as well. Confused, angry, sleepy, afraid, in love, bored, anxious? All emotions have some music that will help you through those feelings. Music is like medicine. Jimi Hendrix said “Music is a safe kind of high”. And that is so true. You can heal yourself from within by listening to something.

No matter what your belief is in how the earth was made, how creation began, we can all agree that music has been around for so many years. I can hear those dinosaurs rockin’ now! Pause for me to giggle at the thought of a T-Rex trying to hold a microphone! People have sung songs of praise and songs of joy for thousands of years. Some sang to get through their day faster or to take their mind off the work they are doing. As I said before, there is music for every feeling and every occasion. Except maybe the silent game!

If I am not listening to an audio book I am listening to music. Even when I am reading a regular book. It fuels me. I can listen to music and read and watch TV or work on my computer at the same time. I always have been able to. Of course, now I know it is because of the ADHD I was late in life diagnosed with! But it has always been something to help me concentrate. I listen to a very wide variety of music. There are actually fewer types that I don’t listen to than what I do. And sometimes a song will come on that I know for certain is a sign that I need to stop and listen. This happens a lot with me and with a lot of different songs.

This morning it was Vienna by Billy Joel. It has always been one of my favorites. Not just the melody but the words. See, I am a lyric listener. I take in what the artists are singing about, and more times than not, the lyrics are why I love a song so much. Not just the melody. If you have not heard Vienna I would suggest listening to it. Now let me tell you why this song pulls at my heartstrings so much. If you know me personally you know that I am always…up to something! A project or a job or traveling somewhere. I have a “why wait” attitude to living. Sometimes I get so headstrong about things I don’t slow down and realize that I do in fact have a bit of time. This song helps me slow down. The first words of the song are literally slow down! I will type some of the lyrics so you know what I am talking about if you have not heard the song.

“Slow down you crazy child, you’re so ambitious for a juvenile, but then if you’re so smart tell me why are you still so afraid? Where’s the fire what’s the hurry about? You better cool it off before you burn it out, you got so much to do and only so many hours in the day. But you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want or you can just get old, you’re gonna kick off before you even get half way through. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? Slow down you’re doing fine, you can’t be everything you want to be before your time, although it’s so romantic on the borderline tonight. Too bad, but it’s the life you lead, you’re so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need. Though you can see when you’re wrong you know you can’t always see when you’re right. You got your passion, you got your pride, but don’t you know that only fools are satisfied? Dream on but don’t imagine they’ll all come true, when will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”

Ok, those are most of the lyrics. Because unlike some songs, Billy Joel wrote the shit out of this one and made the whole thing profound. So, let me break a few things down. “If you’re so smart why are you still so afraid”? Ok dude, get out of my head! “You can’t be everything you want to be before your time”, this line gets me. I get so caught up in making sure everything is done exactly like I picture it in my head, whether a project or job being done a certain way, if I try to lose weight I expect it to be gone in 2 days, my life in general and making it as I want it to be, even though I do truly know nothing great happens in a short time. “you’re so ahead of yourself you forgot what you need” Ummm that might be what gets written on my headstone! I get so ahead of myself so often that I literally forget things I am supposed to do to get where I am headed. “Though you can see when you’re wrong you can’t always see when you’re right”. This line. This line here is gold. I can tell you throughout the day what my mistakes are. Every time I am wrong or whenever I make an error of judgement, but I don’t ever stop to think about when I am right. Except when I am challenged by someone and usually that person has to say the dreaded words “you were right” and I am just the sweetest person in the world for continuing to remind them of that! But in reality, when I make good calls and do the right thing I just keep going. I don’t stop to say wow! Good job! I will bully myself for my inaccuracies but never pat myself on the back for my good choices. “Only fools are satisfied”. This I take as not meaning you’re a fool if you are satisfied with what you have done, yet you are a fool if you stop going because you are satisfied. I often say that I never do things “good enough” because they will forever haunt me. If I know I can do better, I will do that until I have done the very best that I can. “Dream on but don’t imagine they’ll all come true”. This is not a negative statement. It is not pessimistic, it is reality. Just like a bucket list or goals in general, if you have done everything on your list and have no more to add then you are missing out on life. You should never just stop adding things, I have said that before about bucket lists. If you do everything you want to then what is the point of going on? I know I have dreams that probably won’t happen, but it doesn’t mean I stop dreaming about them! I just keep on going and working towards what I can accomplish.

My point in this whole thing is this. Music can change your life. It can set things in motion you did not know you needed. For example, see my previous post from a while back titled The River. Music can tell you things you cannot hear other people say. It can make you think a different way than you had before. And it can heal the broken pieces of you. So listen to music! Dance and sing and enjoy your life! Because the people that make the music don’t do it just to pay the bills! At least those that make good music!! They do it to share their love and feelings with you. And honestly how beautiful is that? It is the same as artists that paint pictures or make sculptures. They do these things to share a part of themselves with you. So respect them even if you don’t love their work. And open your mind and your heart to different types of music to see if you have been missing something. Because until your last minute on this earth, you never stop living and you always have time for learning new things about yourself!

“A painter paints pictures on a canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence” – Leopold Stokowski

“Where words fail, music speaks” -Hans Christian Anderson

“Music can change the world” -Beethoven

“To sing is to pray twice” -St Augustine