When Music Is Your Special Friend

There is nothing more vibrant and uplifting than music

Music is a basic human need and a source of pleasure for almost everybody. There is nothing more satisfying than curling up and relaxing with yourself or your significant other on a rainy day than listening to music.

Whatever style of music you choose to listen to is irrelevant, from classical to heavy metal to alternative. Whatever you like, if it makes you feel good, just do it. Go for it.

The music frees your soul, stimulates your pleasure centers, fills you up with old memories, and lets you explore new ones.

Music energizes you and takes you to a different place in space and time. It relaxes you and eliminates stress. Kick out the blues, get into your groove and you will be transported and transformed into a different person.

I can’t imagine waking up without hitting up my YouTube list of all my favorite songs every morning. Or if I get a sudden inspiration or a flashback to an old song, it’s right there.

If I feel down, it lifts me. If I feel up, it makes me feel even better.

I do my morning exercises to the beat of a different drummer every day, and it is better and more powerful than a caffeine jolt like a double shot of espresso or an energy drink. Much healthier too.

All the problems of the world and my personal life are replaced by feelings of joy and good vibrations, an endorphin rush like no other.

Music has charms to soothe the savage beast and raise us to the highest levels of excitement, enjoyment, and euphoria. Flash! Paradise!

No matter your mood, your fatigue level, or your problems, there are different kinds of mind-altering music to make you feel better.

If you got the blues, listen to some B.B. King or Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, or Johnny Winter and you will paradoxically feel uplifted.

I prefer the blues and good old-fashioned rock and roll, the kind of music that soothes your soul. But music is a uniquely personal choice. There are so many newer, younger bands out there that I haven’t even heard of yet.

If you like rock and roll, how can you go wrong with the sheer artistic pop music of the Beatles, hard rockers like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, or the venerable Rolling Stones, still touring in their 80s?

By now you have figured out that I am a boomer, and we practically invented rock and roll. Not a problem. Music has no age limits.

There is music to fill the spaces and take you to the places you want to go no matter what age you are.

If you prefer classical music, Mozart, Beethoven, or Bach are perennial favorites. They have withstood the test of time, and their rousing, inspiring music has been pleasing and inspiring people for centuries.

Individual artists like Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs) Whitney Houston and Beyonce all can move you with the passion and the power of their voices, vision, and songs.

My wife and I went through the Summer of Love in San Francisco together and were lucky enough to see all-time favorites like Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Tina Turner live and loud, as often as we could. A lot.

You can listen to music through headphones or earbuds, but the best way to experience live music is to get out there and go to a concert.

Taylor Swift is an amazingly popular artist, making an estimated $11 million for each stop on her current “Eras Tour.” She has legions of fans who call themselves “Swifties” who are rabid fans not seen since the original Beatlemania.

But music is not just about the money. The best feeling of all to me is writing and playing your songs, or copies of your faves.

Writing music is an art form. You take bits and pieces of inspiration out of thin air and shape and mold the words and the chords into music that is uniquely yours.

However you slice it, music is the glue that brings people together, erases petty differences, and makes the world go round.

When music is your special friend, you are never alone.

Music is the soundtrack of life. Live is love. Enjoy. We are all connected…