Music Appreciation (No, not the class)

“Some people have lives; some people have music.”

-John Green

Someone asked me yesterday what I do when I am not at work or at school. The silence came as I scrambled to think of something. This was an excellent question for someone more interesting--for me, not as much. Then the words came,

I listen to music all the time.

Like the song says, "I'm not the only one."

Hopefully you can say add a little more than I did, but the comparison is the same.

Consider all the avenues of listening to music.

When my generation was growing up, we could be found spinning in the backyard with our Discmans lodged awkwardly in our back pockets. Some of us rocked the tape players in our family cars. Ipods came to life in 2001 with the first model and gained popularity in 2004. To those of us that remember "Hit Clips" our minds were forever blown by Apple's newest creation. Where we had only been able to listen to a 30-second clip of one song now an entire world was born. If it was not crazy enough to have thousands of songs floating around in a little rectangle--more was to come.

Our generation should be called "Generation Playlist." We have been given the unique ability to pick and choose music like never before. Our parents had records and 8-tracks. We still enjoy these avenues. However, we have YouTube (personal favorite), Pandora and Spotify.

Our music can be taken anywhere and shared with anyone. It has created plenty of licensing and copyright issues that I cannot begin to unpack. But for those who are working to help artists and listeners the ability to take music anywhere is a gift we have received. The ability to say that I listen to music all the time is a tribute to these strides in listening to music. Many across the world are not given the gift of constant playlists. Though I am sure they use their voices and create beautiful music and have some of the same opportunities to listen. However, with our gift comes thankfulness.

This was a rambling, but you'd expect nothing less. Hug your music today-- in whatever form it is tangible.

"Tender love is blind, it requires a dedication
All this love we feel, needs no conversation
We ride it together, ah ah
Makin love with each other, ah ah

Islands in the stream, that is what we are
No one in between, how can we be wrong
Sail away with me to another world
And we rely on each other, ah ah
From one lover to another, ah ah."

Islands In the Stream, by Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers