Thank you to all my viewers who were in the delivery room last week, ready to catch this blog baby as I pushed it out. Welcome to those of you now coming to visit it in the nursery. It truly takes a village to raise a child. I need all of you. As a show of thanks, below is a bonus song that honors the Rock and Roll time period that I have always been so magnetically drawn to.
Listening + Learning + Loving = Living.
HEY, SUGAR
Music is everywhere, like, for real. We don't realize it, but we are constantly moving through a symphony. Urban noises, the whispers and roars of nature, kitchen sounds, traffic beeps (annoying when they slice the silence but still). Almost any sound can be incorporated to create music.
One of the coolest behind the scenes rock and roll stories I've ever heard, was from Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to Howard Stern, the king of all media. I live for musical backstory; I'm starving for any glimpse into the creative process. You know the little dense, shaky staccato sounds at the beginning of "Sweet Emotion"? Steven was recounting how those famous sounds were made by taping sugar packets to their ankles in the studio. I was blown away. THIS is musical genius at its core. Taking the mundane and incorporating it into what can ultimately move people, cause them to react, to open doors in their soul they never knew were locked. I so wish I could have witnessed that sugar packet episode in person, but even just hearing that story knocked my socks off.
SONG OF THE DAY
Listen to Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith
I've been fortunate to have seen Aerosmith in concert a few times in my life, and watching this guy on stage is revelatory. He doesn't stop moving, doesn't stop creating. Not for a second. His energy, clear love, and utter devotion to musicis nothing short of electric. You see why he makes music. And you know why you listen. A brilliant musician is never just that. They are therapists, doctors, oracles, poets, parents, friends. They cure us, give voice to whatever the hell is raging inside us, give us support. They bring optimism. They make us feel not crazy and not alone. They give us permission to weep in our cars, belt it out in the shower, help us get through the day. Calm us at night. At once they both distract and engage us. Oh yeah, and they make us dance, smile, sing, and provide us with a soundtrack for our lives. I'll take two sugars please, and a roll of tape.
BONUS SONG
Song of the day
Listen to Dream On by Aerosmith
This is for one person. This is for every person. This is for the dreams we have while asleep. This is for the dreams we have while awake.
This is for those of us who can access our dreams. This is especially for those who cannot. This is for the dreams we had when we were 8. And those we will have when we are 80. This is for the dreams we remember and the ones we can't recall in the morning, but that left us shaken to our core. Every night our minds make major motion pictures. This is for them.
