So a couple of weeks ago I was on a small trip to Lava Hot Springs with my pals, and Morgan said she wanted to make a soundtrack for her life. Morgan and Jamie started talking about how that was a good idea and that they would choose music that fit their lives. I thought that was a cool idea, so I am ripping it off. Sorry, Morgan. At least I'm giving you credit, right?
But this idea got me thinking, and I started to try and figure out what songs I would use if I were to do a soundtrack for my life. Would I want songs that would show my somewhat eclectic tastes, or would I want songs that had changed my life somehow? How would I choose them? I started sorting through artists and songs, and what I decided I would do is choose music/artists that have a way of creating moods and feelings that fit my soul better than any other music. What I am going to try and say is really hard because I don't know how to choose the right imagery to represent this idea. But my soul seems to be able to connect on a lot of frequencies (i.e. feelings, emotions...), but there seems to be a frequency that my soul connects with and vibrates best on. It seems to be my frequency. When I am there, I feel like I am closer to being my real Self than at any other place. Does that make sense?
And not only do I see that connection as a frequency, I see it as a huge, dark shape. It is soft and smooth. It is round and straight at the same time. It's somehow me, and it's somehow where I feel best. It's a place and it's a feeling and it's me.
I realize that this probably makes absolutely no sense, but what I want to say is that I chose three artists that help me get to that place that is me. I don't know if everyone reacts differently to the music of these artists, or I sometimes wonder if everyone tried, they could get on the same frequency that I vibrate so well at and can really see who I am. Can other people come and see where I hum?
Anyway, the three artists I chose were Peter Gabriel, Sufjan Stevens, and Jonsi/Sigur Ros.
Peter Gabriel for the incredible faith that defines him and I want to be representative of me. He, to me, is a solid rock that is just pressing on in life. I think of stable ease and continuous forward-movement when I think of Peter Gabriel and his music. And of all the artists, I think he produces more music at my frequency than any other artist. He somehow gets right to the heart of my soul. I could live happily in the world his music creates.
I chose Sufjan Stevens for the neurotic/paranoid aspect of his music. He is constantly looking for something, grasping at everything, tasting and digesting as much as he can, trying to salvage happiness out of everything he finds. Happiness is elusive sometimes, and my worst moments are when I know that I am happy now, but I know that it will skirt right out of my grasp the second I try to hold onto it. His music is representative of that. It gets me to that place, and helps me try to come to grips with it. It's therapeutic for me.
Lastly, I chose Jonsi/Sigur Ros because they define the part of me that longs for beauty and hope. Someone called Jonsi the "messenger of ecstatic hope," and he is. No one else makes my heart ache so much for beauty and then promises it more eternally than Jonsi. He makes my soul want to burst from my body and dance in the shifting green heavens. However, it is all tinged with just enough sadness. It is a beautiful sadness, though, that makes you feel peaceful...
So, with these three artists, I present to you the soundtrack of my soul. I feel like you can know the core of me, who I am and how I feel, through these songs/artists. Of course there are more that I could choose, but these seem best representative of my Self.
Jonsi- Boy Lilikoi
Sufjan Stevens- From the Mouth of Gabriel
Peter Gabriel- Signal to Noise
Sigur Ros- Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur
Sufjan Stevens- Impossible Soul (Part 1) (Part 2)
Peter Gabriel- Love to Be Loved
Sigur Ros- Svefn-G-Englar
Genesis (Peter Gabriel)- Supper's Ready (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)
Please enjoy. (The only one of these with an actual video or a video worth watching is Svefn-G-Englar. The rest are good for listening...)
What songs show your soul?
(PS. Last year I saw every single one of these artists perform live. It was a good year.)
We totally had to do an assignment exactly like this for English 1010 recently.
ReplyDeleteIt was kind of hard because I think everyones initial tendency was to just pick their favorite songs, and not the songs that actually described their lives. I think it's kind of a debate about whether or not those two things are different, or the same. Depends on the song I guess, and your reason for liking it.
We were given the option to do songs that described a day in our life, or a phase in our life, or anything along those lines.
I ended up doing moods kind of, but more phases of my life that were filled with a specific, constant mood. I chose "Transatlanticism" for my loneliest self/period of my life, and I chose "Go Do" for my happiest self/period of life. "Happiness" doesn't even really describe it. "Ecstatic" does a good job of it I guess.
I loved your paragraph about Jonsi/Sigur Ros. I agree %100. When I listen to Jonsi, those songs make me want to just explode with emotion.
I actually was planning on blogging about this too, since I already had to write about it for my class, so I'm sorry if I have a copy cat blog post of this in the near future. :)