Music is one of those things that people remember. Even those that can’t remember what they were just doing will remember songs from a long time ago. Music evokes emotions, reminds us of memories, and gives us dreams.
I’ve never been one to know who sang which song and what year it was from. Nor am I adventurous to search out excellent, off-beat groups. But upon hearing certain songs, I’m taken back to moments in time when that song was playing. Sometimes the moment was important, but usually not.
An example is Jim Croce’s “30,000 Pounds of Bananas”. When our children were young, they didn’t exactly want to get up for church on Sundays. I would put on some music to help them wake up and crank up the volume a little bit. They seemed to like it this song and would sing along with it. It helped them get up and moving.
Another example is The Steve Miller Band’s song “Joker”. I remember that I was at a teen party at youth outreach place I went to for a month or two as a guest of a friend. This was about 1973. The song brings back good memories of the place, the party, and my friend that had invited me. None of these memories are things that I have thought of in a number of years until I started writing about them just now. I hadn’t forgotten.
The last few years, I’ve listened primarily to contemporary Christian music. There is a huge range in the types of Christian music. They touch different people in different ways. Some people love the old hymns, some love gospel, others love hip-hop, and some love worship music. In fact, all of the cultures around the world have their own unique way of praising God. Each type of music have their place and have people that love that type of music.
If you want to take a look at the music I enjoy, under the Links menu there is a link to my YouTube playlist. There are a couple of Christmas songs in the list, but when the time comes I’ll put together a playlist just for Christmas.
When I needed to concentrate at work on what I was doing, I would put on the headphones and play my iPod. It helped to block out all of the extraneous noises of people walking/talking. If someone really needed to interrupt, they could and that was fine. It helped me be “in the zone”. This is where you could focus on what is right before you, keep track of threads of code, and how they interact with the overall program. Sure music was just background noise. But it was better than the hum of electronics and machinery or the chattering of random conversations.
Even when you aren’t consciously listening, you hear the music and sometimes will have the melody running in your brain. That can be a good thing or a not so good thing!
Peace, David
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