To paraphrase what Fred the Jerry once said, without music life would be a mistake... i completely and wholeheartedly agree with this statement, i know that music is such and important and meaningful part of my life that i really don't know what i would do without it... and as i've grown older my musical tastes have broadened, i no longer am squarely ensconced in that indie rock bubble that i once lived in, no i haven't given it up, not by a long shot it's just these days there are a lot more genres tossed in there which gives me a greater appreciation for all of them...
There are certain songs that will stop me in my tracks, that will get me to stop what i'm doing, to sit down and just listen... how often these days in the world of non-stop news feeds and electronic bombardment do we actually just stop, close our eyes or stare off into space, and just listen, let the mind take it all in, let it wander where it wants, the daydreams and memories that a particular song will invoke, it's one of the most beautiful things a human can experience... (hell i know even animals sometimes latch on to a piece of music, my old cat Pablo (1994-2007) was extremely fond of the Grandaddy song So You'll Aim Toward the Sky... and for the record i am too...)
Which of course brings me back to a certain song from the show, Screamland, the highlight, one may have wondered (though probably not) why i didn't post it with the last bits of the Mushroom Diaries? well that would be because it was deserving enough of it's own post... if there is one thing i love about music it's the way each song can be intensely personal and yet universal... each and every one of us will get something different out of it while still being able to share that song and enjoy it with whoever... call it the Wedding Song Theory, or why people pick a particular song, of course some pick the same fucking Eric Clapton song which can only be attributed to a lack of creativity or thought (granted one could really love that song but it's a bit of a cliche at this point), oddly enough the one played on that day many years ago at my little ceremony was called Hope by the Dirty Three... Everything's Fucked by said band would have been a better choice (and also one of the songs that will stop me cold)...
Certain questions will tell me a lot about a musician and one of those questions is when they are asked about the lyrics... i can tell right off how invested and seriously they take it by the response... when i hear said musician explain ad nauseum what the lyrics mean and how they came about i know right off they are missing the point, maybe they're young and don't understand the question but it often points to not understanding art... most of the artists i love and admire the most, from writers to painters to musicians, won't answer the question, they'll explain they know what it means to them, without ever really saying what it does, and then proceed to talk about how they'd rather have the listener, reader, viewer interpret it themselves, to apply their own meaning for their own lives... and maybe that's just a school of thought but i happen to believe it's the correct one because regardless of what the creator might say the meaning will always lie within our own individual interpretation of those works...
Which brings me to Screamland... there is not a line in the song, from the verses to the chorus that does not resonate with me in some way, that does not invoke a memory or feeling that relates to my existence, and yes that's the beauty of music, how it relates to us personally (and as stated universally)... for those of us who haven't become completely numbed to ourselves by this modern living, who haven't become completely anesthetized to the world around us, who can look up from our phones and technological gadgets and appreciate what we have, what we seem to be trying to throw away, for those of us who still exist with empathy and compassion, who believe strength is in kindness and not hatred and bigotry, who can still appreciate the beauty of art, who move through the world daydreaming and believe the simplest acts of kindness and decency can help create a better world, who are soundtracking that movie in their head so they can feel, dream, cope with a species seemingly hellbent on it's own decline and demise, these bits of art and music that we can relate to are the sustenance and nourishment for our soul, it's what reminds us what matters and what we stand to lose if we don't pay attention, if we forget to cultivate and care for our humanity... and to me, this song, conjures all those things...
And while i could sit here and elucidate on the meaning of this song that would quite obviously contradict everything i have just written... so i won't... i will say that hearing this song live in a heightened state of awareness and empathy (mushrooms have been proven to elicit and improve feelings of empathy and kindness to the world around us, to connect us more to the natural world and dare i say awaken us to what we are part of and will someday return to egoless and formless), in a room full of other humans, many of whom, like myself, were transfixed by what was happening, it was what one might call a transcendental moment, those brief glimpses of existence where the facade falls away and one understands and physically feels the beauty of it all...
Love must find a way/ love must find a way/ after every desperate measure/ just a miracle will take...
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