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The What Kind of Music Makes You Misty-Eyed? alexdg1's Open-Ended, Everyone's Welcome Write-OffJul 24 '05 (Updated Jan 10 '06) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line You've seen my list...let's see yours!
One of my favorite writers, novelist-screenwriter-director Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Time After Time), once made the observation that "sound always dominates picture." To prove his point, he instructs the reader to "simply drive around in a car with the radio or cassette player blasting and look out the window. The nature of the music affects the mood of what you are seeing. It is never the other way around. If you play happy music, even some fairly squalid and dispiriting surroundings appear more cheerful. If you play sad or ominous music, the most agreeable vistas assume a sinister aspect." Meyer was writing about film music -- you can find his entire essay in the booklet of program notes for The Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack Anthology 4-CD boxed set -- but the essential truth of his little thesis is true; as another member commented on my recent piece, The Sounds of Heartbreak, "music is very INFLUENTIAL ON THE MOOD." While I can't argue with either Meyer or my fellow Epinionator, I also happen to think that our mood also affects our music selection. Some people tend to listen to sad music when they're unhappy (to which I plead guilty), while others listen to happy music to get "the blues on the run." Having shared with the community several articles on the topic of sad or love-lost songs, I'm now curious as to what other members of the Epinions family consider to be their "sounds of heartbreak." That's the raisson d' etre for this, my first Write-Off. The rules are fairly simple: choose between five to 10 pieces of melancholy/sad/"I've got the blues" music from your favorite styles or genres and write a little bit about each selection and, if you like, an anecdote about it. If you prefer, lists of songs are acceptable, but do include at least a paragraph or two for an intro. To enter, simply leave the link to your Epinion in the Comments section....there is no deadline or any close-out date. Sample of a "long" anecdote: 1. The Nearness of You: I first heard this song about a year before I met any of my online sweeties when I bought Runnin' Wild: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller. in 1997, a CD I purchased mainly so I could hear "Moonlight Serenade," which is, as one GI once remarked to Stephen E. Ambrose in the book Band of Brothers, "the most thought-provoking theme song ever written." As usually happens when I buy a CD for just one song or composition, I usually end up liking the entire album, and so it went with this song. With its gentle melody and oh-so-romantic lyrics (It's not the pale moon that excites me / That thrills and delights me, oh no / It's just the nearness of you), I thought it would be nice if I took this CD when I met my first sweetie in person. How it affected her is something I never did find out; her musical tastes are more modern than mine, preferring such diverse artists as Alan Jackson, Meredith Brooks, and even Metallica, and even though I "ripped" a CD for her about a year later with that song included, I haven't a clue as to whether she likes it or not. I can only speak about my feelings and recollections, and for me this song has a yin-yang balancing effect. On the one hand, I remember exactly what it felt like being close to her (When you're in my arms and I feel you so close to me / All my wildest dreams come true)...I can even remember the gentle upward curve of her lips when she'd smile for me. But there is a cruel irony to the words, too, since she literally lives more than halfway across the United States. and the reality of our lives has created a wall of separation that can't be easily breached. (Of course, not all anecdotes have to be this long....and lists are also welcome!) Participants: drdevience nedipooh leedug flamepillar speeddemon531 Stephen_Murray 42ENGLISH marshacastello captaind aniym plorentz cabowabo alexdg1 affleckfan kyrane SixerMan shilmafone prettyvacant MattBjorke skbreese poeticone16 mrs-j nosoyloco three_ster ddustyrose jeff_wilder78 beckytcy DrFaustus AliventiAsylum sarah_knipper netnut746 voxpoptart discoinfernal goodmama calipya pmills1210 kelly60  |
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