What does music mean to you?

[Chōshū]

note: At first this post was meant for the arts section with the title "Have you ever had a transition in musical tastes before?"  But as I went on with my post I realized that my message transcended the point that I had originally set out to express and decided that I'd put it on more of a serious note.  So I decided to move it here to the serious discussion area since I don't know how serious people will be in the arts area    Well, the below paragraph was the beginning of the original post so get readin' : D

Back during my younger years, I was surrounded by friends who were absolutely obsessed and immersed in rap and hip-hop culture.  It was basically the only thing they really cared about (before you start to scream "wigger" they were all black and hispanic, not that that's an excuse for following that poor excuse for a sub-culture).  I never really got into the culture as much as they did, but I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't into rap, hip-hop, and modern r&b at the time.

As time went by I slowly started to pull away from that sort of music though.  I remember listening to Sweet Child Of Mine on the radio and thinking about how beautiful the solo sounded to me.  Although Guns N' Roses is a band that I hardly even listen to anymore, I'd say that that one song is what made me abandon my former tastes and get into rock.

When I was even littler I used to listen to the Beatles with my dad all the time, but after he died I sort of abandoned listening to them in an attempt to let myself forget about my dad.  But soon after my love for rock manifested I fell back into Beatlemania again, but it's always been a bitter-sweet experience for me.  On one end painful because of the memories of times long past, and on the other hand nostalgic.  For the last couple of years my love for rock has seemed to explode outward in an exponential fashion, bringing me to the corners of the musical barrel listening to indie, all types of metal including the dreaded black metal and the and the misunderstood death metal, and 50 years into the past when an unknown white man named Elvis shocked the world through the radio with his guitar, his voice, and his style.

But now, I feel as if I'm transitioning even away from rock and roll.  Several months ago, mostly out of pure boredom and curiosity, I asked my mom if she had any classical CDs lying around the house.  She went to the closet and pulled out an old, dusty box filled with CDs from the likes of Mozart and many other composers.  As I continued listening to these artists I was amazed by the beauty and complexity of their music.  In most cases they didn't have lyrics, but in your mind you paint a beautiful picture, as the chords and notes flittering through the air twist and bend your imagination. 

It was once said that if aliens from another world were to land on Earth and ask of us one good example of what defines the human spirit, you should sit them down in a chair, and play some Johann Sebastian Bach to them. 

It's amazing what we as humans have been able to do with the manipulation of sound.  At it's most basic level, sound is merely a wave.  It's pitch expressed by your proximity to the source, blue-shifting and red-shifting.  But we've taken this small piece of nature, and bent it so it can accommodate our culture and emotions.  I'm sure everyone has been touched by at least one song in their lives....Whether it may be a memory of you kissing your wife for the first time in a car with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" playing in the background, or that time when you went to the gym and bench-pressed for the first time and heard "Enter Sandman" by Metallica in the background, serving as your first baby step into falling in love with metal, music is, and always has been a part of the human experience. 

What does music mean to you?

[Travis]

i love music but i dont really know why

good form of expression idk

[Chōshū]

I didn't notice it but I've been listening to Lady Gaga for the last 45 minutes

and I don't want it to stop  cjlubdoods;

[Samus Aran]

Music to me is a very large portion of my life, and I wish to death that I had the talent to make decent music of my own, but I'm more than satisfied with simply listening to it. I think music has really indirectly helped me through a lot of my life, though I can't say I've had as many hard times as a lot of other people, it still helped me.

I dunno, music to me is just something that's irreplaceable in my life. I can talk about music forever...and I can listen to it even longer. It's something I love.

Furthermore, I think it's pretty amazing that music is something that the entire world has shared pretty much since the beginning of a mind capable of making it. The fact that humanity has adored this particular art in every culture really says something about its versatility and its importance.

And yeah, there are a lot of songs that remind me of certain things, are important to me for various reasons, etc...and certain songs just move me unbelievably for reasons I can't fathom.

[Socks]

Music to me is a very large portion of my life, and I wish to death that I had the talent to make decent music of my own, but I'm more than satisfied with simply listening to it. I think music has really indirectly helped me through a lot of my life, though I can't say I've had as many hard times as a lot of other people, it still helped me.

I dunno, music to me is just something that's irreplaceable in my life. I can talk about music forever...and I can listen to it even longer. It's something I love.

Furthermore, I think it's pretty amazing that music is something that the entire world has shared pretty much since the beginning of a mind capable of making it. The fact that humanity has adored this particular art in every culture really says something about its versatility and its importance.

And yeah, there are a lot of songs that remind me of certain things, are important to me for various reasons, etc...and certain songs just move me unbelievably for reasons I can't fathom.

This one speaks the truth... fairly sufficiently. At least for me.

[YPrrrr]

It pretty much serves as a mood enhancer to me... If I'm feeling a certain way or want to feel a different way, I can throw on some music and get wrapped up in the rhythm. It can get me ready to go for a run, remember a friend I haven't seen for a while, or any number of things.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

I hate sounding smarmy and cliche and dont really like it when others do so.

I guess I'm more or less obsessed. I find myself constantly looking for more, gathering and hoarding. Addicted. I'd hate to suffer from withdrawals.

It's a creative catalyst. A mood (de)enhancer. A way to kill time. A conversation piece. A bookmark for a certain space in time. I still laugh when I hear simon and garfunkel's "cecelia" because it's associated with a certain memory. It's nice when that happens.

I've been playing classical violin for over ten years now. Studied theory and history. Learned a nice array of other instruments until I felt comfortable playing in front of an audience. Being able to express yourself musically is rewarding beyond comprehension, something that painters must feel when they put down their thoughts on canvas.

But yeah. I like it, alongside the rest of the world.

[sans culottes]

Music is a passion for me. Even though I have absolutely no talent, if I could do anything I want for a living, I'd want to be a musician.

A lot of people will take music, be it classical or popular, and try to make it something more than it is. It's like, Rolling Stone will take a stupid fucking Beatles song that doesn't mean anything and try to find some kind of epic level of depth in it. Music, to me, is just entertainment that can sometimes emotionally connect to you - and that's it. I enjoy complicated, well composed masterpieces as much as many of you do, but I equally enjoy loud, simple punk songs with only three chords.

A few days ago, I was watching a video of a band called the Warlocks. I don't think any of you listen to them. The Warlocks are a modern band that shows very strong influences from the Velvet Undeground and other 60's acts. One particular commenter was disappointed in it. He called it wearing their influences on their sleeves, lacking any creativity. That's how he saw the song Hurricane Heart Attack - an imitation of the retro sound with a lack of innovation. What is Hurricane Heart Attack to me? An awesome fucking song. It's not innovative, it's not creative, but it's a great song.

I appreciate an emotionally powerful song, and I am often inspired by things like this. I appreciate genius musicianship. I appreciate amazing talent at an instrument. But when it all comes down to it, I'm not gonna be a stuck-up prick about music. It's all about how the song falls together and whether it's a good or a bad tune.

Music, at many times, reperesents emotions, and represents what's wrong with the world. This was more evident a hundred years ago, before music was much of a business. But a lot of people forget that it's entertainment.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

Music is a passion for me. Even though I have absolutely no talent, if I could do anything I want for a living, I'd want to be a musician.

A lot of people will take music, be it classical or popular, and try to make it something more than it is. It's like, Rolling Stone will take a stupid fucking Beatles song that doesn't mean anything and try to find some kind of epic level of depth in it. Music, to me, is just entertainment that can sometimes emotionally connect to you - and that's it. I enjoy complicated, well composed masterpieces as much as many of you do, but I equally enjoy loud, simple punk songs with only three chords.

A few days ago, I was watching a video of a band called the Warlocks. I don't think any of you listen to them. The Warlocks are a modern band that shows very strong influences from the Velvet Undeground and other 60's acts. One particular commenter was disappointed in it. He called it wearing their influences on their sleeves, lacking any creativity. That's how he saw the song Hurricane Heart Attack - an imitation of the retro sound with a lack of innovation. What is Hurricane Heart Attack to me? An awesome fucking song. It's not innovative, it's not creative, but it's a great song.

I appreciate an emotionally powerful song, and I am often inspired by things like this. I appreciate genius musicianship. I appreciate amazing talent at an instrument. But when it all comes down to it, I'm not gonna be a stuck-up prick about music. It's all about how the song falls together and whether it's a good or a bad tune.

Music, at many times, reperesents emotions, and represents what's wrong with the world. This was more evident a hundred years ago, before music was much of a business. But a lot of people forget that it's entertainment.

Hey, have you ever listened to "wire"? Specifically pink flag.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZeCRKcZ3z4&feature=related[/youtube]

And I haven't met anyone else that's even really heard of the warlocks. Kudos

[the shortest route to the sea]

I have music going through me every second of every day. Sometimes in a form of a catchy tune, but in the way I move my hands and legs and feet. I snap, clap, stomp and hum beats so often, sometimes unconsciously. I'm always taking bits and pieces into music. If I move my hands in poisitions like chords, I'll hear ideal progressions in my head. Music that I've heard, music that I'd like to make. Often at concerts I turn my entire body into an instruments, swaying and undulating my body while plucking, stroking, tapping, striking, playing my skin. Music is a religious experience to me. Nothing has inspired or consoled me more than Arcade Fire; nothing has made me laugh more than Dragonforce; nothing has excited me more than Bach; nothing has seemed more resplendent and beautiful to me than Mahler; nothing has whisked me away like Joanna Newsom; no one has impressed me like Bjork; nothing has rocked me harder than SOAD; no one has ever sounded more beautiful and sad than Sufjan Stevens; the list goes on. Although I'm a girl who is pretty awful at staying in touch with emotions, I always get in touch with emotions. It's like a physical high, often. I get intoxicated from listening to really good music, and even when I don't I get chills and a sense of rapture. But I also try to rival it in spirit; I lose myself at the piano. I hope that, however good or bad my songs and playing are, that people understand how deep I love music when I play my chords. I live in those chords. I live in my music. Yes, it's also a social obsession, and I get insecure about my taste and how much music I have and whether my taste is edgy enough. But beyond that useless crap, I am music and nothing more within every bit of my soul.

Also, the Warlocks turned into the Grateful Dead, I think.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

Also, the Warlocks turned into the Grateful Dead, I think.

They may have called themselves that for a while before calling themselves the dead, but the velvet underground-esque band is far more recent. I want to say about 2000 or 2001.

[the shortest route to the sea]

They may have called themselves that for a while before calling themselves the dead, but the velvet underground-esque band is far more recent. I want to say about 2000 or 2001.

Very different groups, then.

[Hiro]

I'm sorry but as much as I love music, I can't take stuff like this seriously.  Also, both this and every music thread in the Arts board make me very very sad.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

Very different groups, then.

Very very.

[the shortest route to the sea]

Very very.

I respect you.