The Power of Music

I start to write this at 1:26am Tuesday Morning. I'm listening to an old iPod. While the music is pretty much the same as I have on my other two, I couldn't help but begin to think about the songs the memories that go with them. Music is very powerful. It inspires thought, reaction, emotion, action, pain, love, regret, and sometimes even tears. As I am searching through all this music, I can't help but look back at what each song means to me. Some don't have any memories, but others have a great impact on my life. One example is FIF's Dandelions. I can remember listening to this song as I drove from The Dalles to a dinner just outside of that town. I was there for a live show with Lars and all I had heard all week is that weren't sure if the remote broadcast would take place. I was just going to go on blind faith. I had an uneasy feeling about the show on that Friday morning I left Portland. I got to the radio station where the show was going to take place. I walk into the studio, I introduce myself and ask if the lines are good to go. The station owner and his wife came from the back and told me the phone company was just finishing up installing the lines. It was an act of God that the phone tech was even in the city, let alone the station. The tech was suppossed to be working up in the hills above The Dalles that day, but dropped into the station to drop off some music. He called and changed his schedule and got the lines in just in time. Our lines weren't going in until the following Monday. It was stressful the entire drive out there. After wrapping up the show, Lars invited me to join him at the dinner and I accepted. I was alone driving the station vehicle and listening to the song. I was beat physically and mentally from a long day. The song was uplifting and I can still vividly remember the ways the hills looked across the river. Every thing about that drive is still so fresh in my mind. Every time I hear it, it all comes back to me as it just happened. Another example of music and memory is from Christmas 2005. I was spending time with my twin sister before she got married. We were in the parking lot of a Wendy's in NE Portland. We had just picked up some lunch and a song came on the radio. My sister and I are huge Christmas music nuts. We love it. When the stations first start it up, thats all we listen too. Christmas In The Northwest was on and to this day I can picture sitting in my sisters car just listening to the song and looking out at the cold northwest afternoon. My sister has really had an impact on the music I like. Without her influence on my music life, some of the many many memories probably wouldn't exist. I owe her so much. Every song on this old iPod has a special meaning to me. I would love to share them with you, but I think it would take so much time. Two more examples quickly as it is late and I need to sleep. The first time I went to Sunriver, I brought along some CD's that I had burned from my brother's computer. It was a mix of Jason Mraz and others. My family took off for a bike ride and I put in one of my CDs. I picture just walking around the nice house and sitting on the deck listening to the music. In 2004, I took a road trip with Emily, Kenney, and Ben to San Francisco. Coming off the Oregon boarder into California, we hit the stretch of I-5 just outside of Weed and Shasta. It is a beautiful site to see. George Strait's "Blue Clear Sky" was playing. It was the perfect song for the moment. Every time I hear that song, I flash back to that drive. The power of music is special. Thank God for music.