the heads up

It occurs to me I should’ve given a heads up to people reading this blog. (If there is anyone, it’s possible this is just for my own catharsis haha.)

Music is a great love in my life, and as evidenced from this earlier post, I love all kinds of music.

Sometimes I’ll come across a gem of a song and find out that no one has heard of it, which baffles me to such an extent that I feel it simply must be shared. Having driven most of my friends insane with this incessant need to talk about music, this blog is giving me an alternative outlet (hence the catharsis).

Of course, this would also apply to songs that everyone has heard of, but because it’s triggered some wonderful feeling that again, comes the need to pass it on.

So in case you have zero interest in music, heads up, THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR YOU.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you :)

the origin story

My great love for music wasn’t always quite as present in my life as it is now. As a child, it was always something that was just there, sort of lurking in the background.

I remember having a Polly Pocket toy that had a cassette player in it. It was one of those toy-slash-sorta-useful-thing that Polly Pocket used to do so well. Back then, the only tape I had was my mom’s series of classical music tapes, so for hours on end I’d be listening to the music masterpieces of Beethoven and Mozart. It wasn’t as though I had a favourite song, or was in love with their musical style. It really was a matter of convenience at the time. But therein lay the root of my love for music.

A few years later, Les Miserables made its way to our local shores, and I fell head over heels in love with musical theatre. Storytelling through music, and at such an epic scale, completely moved me. It wasn’t just music anymore. It was the great story of tragedy and hope told in beautiful lyrics wrapped in an amazing range of musical melodies. Nearly 15 years later, my love for musicals is still going strong

As I entered my teens, I realized musical numbers and classical music weren’t quite as “cool” as pop music, which at that time was moving into the era of boybands and girlbands. Suddenly my radio was all about the Backstreet Boys declaring they were larger than life and the Spice Girls going on about what they wanna-wanna-wannabe. The MTV channel exploded with more and more pop bands like they were going out of style.

But in the midst of the teenybopper hype, other songs that were simultaneously making their way through the billboard charts started to seep in, and slowly I shifted towards the edgier music of Train, Lifehouse, and of course, the fabulous Jason Mraz.

Since then, my music taste is no longer mired to a specific genre. I can easily swing from OneRepublic to Jim Brickman to Muse, throw in some Guns ‘n Roses, with a healthy dose of musical and movie soundtracks, and a couple of throwbacks to my youth. I have countless favourite songs and countless favourite musicians.

To me, music isn’t about what’s rocking the charts or what’s so indie that I’m cool for knowing it before you. Music is about what you feel. You can’t just hear a song on the radio. You have to actually listen to it, to be present in that moment in time, and truly understand what is that emotion coursing through you as you listen to it. When you really listen, music can make you want to dance in the rain, shed a tear, or just revel in the simple happiness that someone somewhere has created an absolutely fabulous combination of sounds.