The Balm Of Music

So, I’ve mentioned in past posts how much music has meant to me in my life, especially as an adult, especially over the past year and a half. It seems counter-intuitive, since crowds generally really rev my anxiety, but going to live concerts to hear my favorite bands is one my all-time favorite things. I listen to a lot of things, and go to a lot of concerts (next up is Pink in March :)), but my basic modus operandi is to get stuck on one band/album/song, and listen to it obsessively. Like over and over and over until I get sick of it and have to move on to something else.

Blue October is the band that has provided my soundtrack for the past year. They’re probably not a band that a person who tends toward melancholy should really listen to (they write about heavy stuff), but so help me I CANNOT STOP LISTENING.  And really, the effect of the subject matter can go both ways.  It sometimes does make me a little extra… weepy.  But it also empowers me, and makes me feel like someone has put a voice to so much of what I’ve gone through.  We saw them in concert a few months ago, at this tiny little venue in Flagstaff, and it solidly lands itself in my top five favorites. My 17 year old – who loves music as much as I do – was the one who first introduced me to their music, but I can take full credit for being the one who finally discovered that their frontman/lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, also made a totally stripped-down, acoustic album of their best songs, and is about to release another one.

This music changed my life. As my daughter likes to say, it touches my soul. I can’t hear it and not be transported. Not be moved. Like deeply, deeply moved.

This song is just one of about a half-dozen that I’m currently listening to on repeat.  The lyrics are empowering (as the title suggests, it is all about learning to rise above fear), and his voice is amazing. If you need a new life anthem, this is it:

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