It's funny how music works, isn't it? I mean, when you think about it, it's people plucking strings and beating objects with sticks, and most times screaming words at you. Or whispering them softly, you know, if they're pussies. When did music first come about? Was it just a couple of cavemen fucking around with rocks and sticks and grunting?
Whatever the manner in which it was created, look at what it's become. From the olden days we have those catchy mandolin tunes and Irish folk songs. We have Beethoven and Mozart and Bach, and further down the road we have the birth of rock 'n' roll and pop. Then the beautiful era of '90s alternative, post-grunge, and not-punk, and nowadays we have Katy Perry, who no other '00s era musician can compete with. No, you can't argue against that. She's perfect. But of course, since its inception music has only been building its way up to its final form, and that form is Nightwish.
Who is Nightwish? I'm not at all surprised you don't know. They are my favorite band; I've seen them in concert three times, twice in the same year actually. If I hadn't discovered their music on Youtube that one day in 10th grade, I'm pretty confident my life would not be the same today. I taught myself to sing by singing along with the male vocals. Their 2007 album Dark Passion Play helped get me through a rough senior year of high school, and their 2011 release Imaginaerum got me through another rough final year, this time in college. Can I explain just what exactly it is about their music that I love, or what about it instantly fills me with joy? No, I can't. I believe that if I could, I wouldn't be able to have that feeling anymore.
Stage musicals are another mysterious thing. Watching a so-so story unfold while singers and dancers perform in front of you somehow makes said story so much more enjoyable, you know assuming you're not watching A Chorus Line or The Music Man.
I remember first catching the musical bug watching my older sister act in her middle school show, an original musical written by the chorus teacher. I didn't always know what was going on, but I was having a hell of a fun time watching the dancing and hearing the songs. Next I watched the school do Guys and Dolls and then Annie and...dammit, I NEEDED to be in one of those things! So I get cast in my first show, Into the Woods, as an old man, at age 11. I don't get to sing but the whole experience was still really fun for me. Besides, I couldn't sing back then. But now I can so YAY! I've been acting in musicals ever since. And maybe one day, if I'm extremely lucky and work really hard, this will be me.
In musicals like some of my favorites, Les Miserables and American Idiot, certain scenes just explode when the music kicks in. "One Day More" at the end of the first act of Les Mis features every main character singing about their individual fates in the coming days and what choices they'll have to make. When a character runs out with a musket in hand and raises it above his head singing "One more day before the storm," it is just too much for my non-epic little mind to take. When that same character, in "The Final Battle," sings "Let others rise to take our place until the earth is free" right before he is shot to death, just the fact that he's singing it with such passion makes more of an impact than any mere spoken words ever could. The 9-minute rage fest that is "Jesus of Suburbia" in American Idiot creates an onstage scene of frustrated youth and dead-end lifestyles that no straight play or film could ever accomplish. Hell, even watching people shoot up heroin is more fun if it's in a musical. And finally, let's face it, would South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut be even half as good without all of the musical scenes?
Not to mention those montages they have at the end of TV show finales would be AWKWARD without music playing behind them. Although, if there was no music they probably wouldn't make montages, and therefore Rocky and Top Gun would be unwatchable. I would certainly be down one of my very few hobbies without music, so let's all take a moment to thank our ancestors for the invention of music. Imagine your life today without it, especially those who love to play instruments or sing, particularly those getting their tonsils out soon (*cough* Katie Weber *cough*).
Now to wrap things up nicely, the world would suck without music. Fortunately, it's here to to stay, so by all means take it for granted. But while I stand by everything I have just said, fuck Glee. Just fuck it.
See you readers next week, possibly for the last time!
Singing as I finish this,
Tyler
P.S. No disrespect Katie Weber, I sincerely wish you a speedy and semi-painless recovery from your tonsillectomy. You do have such a beautiful voice.
Favorite Song of All Time:
"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House. What's yours?
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