Music Saved Me
It Still Does
In my late teens, there was a period in my life where music literally saved me.
Recently, I watched a short film about Pink Floyd’s album Wish You Were Here and in it, a reactor listened to the title song for the first time and they were nearly brought to tears.
Music can save you, and I’m here to testify to that. And before I’m crucified for my taste in music, it’s worth noting that mostly (not all the time, but mostly) the style or genre doesn’t matter.
There was a time there, after my mum died, when I’d go to high school or in my early years of college, then come home and have maybe an hour before I had to leave for work at the mall flipping pizzas. I’d come back home at night, try to get some homework done and then the next morning do it all again. And again. And again.
So that hour in the middle of it all became sanctuary. I’d make a sandwich, put on headphones and spin 70s rock on my crummy turntable.
I’d have maybe 20-30 minutes of run time. My turntable arm was plastic and junky so I’d put a quarter on the end in order for it to pick up the grooves. To this day, when I hear CCR’s version of “Suzie Q” I hear the scratches in the vinyl from that quarter.
Music was mine. I claimed it. And in return, all those classic rock and metal bands - they saved me, allowed me control, brought me here, pulled me through, gave me life.
Those marks don’t go away. They ebb and flow, as they did for me, until Little Bean came along. The difference, as she begins her own musical journey, is that she doesn’t have to make this trip alone. This adventure can be ours, if that’s what she wants.
My journey was to save me. Hers can be to empower her. We’ve head-banged with the best, throwing horns to AC/DC tribute bands along with rock girl outfits like The Warning and Plush.
In these pages, and in Manchester Ink Link where she’s a kid reporter, she’s interviewed a teen band called Freeze the Fall. Where I had the ability and resources only to listen, but doors are opening for her to meet and greet and explore.
Next week, in fact, she’ll attend a pre-show, back stage presser at SNHU Arena and meet some performers and musicians from Cirque du Soleil’s upcoming OVO show. She’ll get a tour of the production, talk to the performers and learn about the music. We’ll report back to you all on how that went.
This will be her second Cirque du Soleil show. If you’d like to read about her first, you can find that link here: Cirque do Soleil 2023
But the musical journey doesn’t end there. Recently, a close friend of the family offered Little Bean a piano. A real, honest to gosh, stand up piano. The friend is downsizing. The piano needs a home. Little Bean begins her second season of piano lessons in September, so the pieces appear to be coming together.
I’m not going to push her, I’m going to facilitate her interest whichever way that takes us. We’ll try something that I didn’t have in my life during that time - she’ll have a companion on her journey. Instead of forcing her to practice, maybe I’ll let her teach me. Instead of deciding who and when she meets or interviews, I’ll help her pick and choose and develop questions. She can take the pictures and the video.
Where will this lead - this writing and music and interviewing? I don’t know. I doubt she knows. And maybe it’s best that we don’t actually have a plan. Maybe not having a plan will make it seem more like play. Maybe it being play, will make it stick. But if it doesn’t, we’ll still have The Beatles, and signed drum sticks, and an old, beautiful piano, and pictures from backstage at Cirque du Soleil.
My baby and my family and the music that once saved me, now the music that brings us - all of us - together.
Music is very subjective...one person's joy is another's noise. Music stirs emotions, especially blues as that is my favorite style. As my son grew we always had music in the house, mostly rock which I was OK with. He picked up a drum kit, liked it, became fairly proficient at it and started his own band in high school & college...even produced a couple cd's with original tunes. There's a lot to recording and marketing, good life lessons for him.
Music saved me, in a different way. After my dad died, I was trying to figure out what I was doing in life. I hadn’t found a way to grieve his loss. The relationship was rocky for much of my life, but better in the end. I started writing. Songs. And more songs. Several were for him directly or indirectly. Five years on, I wrote the song that let me say goodbye. Writing and performing songs have become my life. Our lives, as my wife and I both write and perform together.