My Music

I love music. Not just any music. I can be very particular about what bands or musical artists I am willing to listen to. Sometimes I give an artist a chance and check out their music, but other times I will not simply because I do not like the artist as a person or group of people. However, I believe that, as a rule, all music can, and is cherished and enjoyed universally.

Music hasn’t always been a part of life. It’s not that there was a lack of music growing up. I listened to the radio occasionally, mostly oldies, but I was never an avid listener of any type of music. That is, until the beginning of seventh grade in middle school. Enter one of my closest friends, who I had not had contact with for at least a year due to very different schedules the year before, which inevitably caused us to grow a little apart. Now that we were hanging out again, he felt the need to educate me and do away with my ignorance toward music. After school, I went to his house and he burned a couple of sample CD’s for me. Not only that, but he gave me his old Walkman so that I could actually get the chance to listen to those CD’s. That’s how it all began for me. I told him what I liked out of what I heard and he gave me more of that. So far, through him I have discovered bands like Blink-182, The Matches, Rancid, Avenged Sevenfold, Alkaline Trio, Motion City Soundtrack, Yellowcard, and many, many others. I felt a certain sense of enlightenment, that I had just been given the key to a whole new world I had only suspected existed until then.

I consider that year back in seventh grade to be the year that most defines who I am as an individual. That year my friend woke me up and I see no reason to turn back on what has happened. My musical taste has since then grown at an explosive rate, partially due to constant aid of my closest friend. I have a tendency to avoid most rap, country, and main-stream artists. Instead, I favor slightly less known bands that play punk-pop and alternative music. This can be blamed on my close friend having the same taste and his heavy and undeniable influence on my music library. I do not, in any way, regret his so-called meddling, because the bands he has shown me are undoubtedly awesome. I have poured a ton of money into obtaining the music I love, but for the most part, I do not really mind. I find that it is worth every cent, because I still enjoy most of the music that I purchased years ago.

I am sure my case is not unique. I am sure that many others, all around the world, can understand what I mean. I am sure that they all know what it means to care deeply for the music that they listen to. The reason is simple; music is everywhere. It has been that way for a long time, and I think it will be that way for a long time yet. Music is a means of communication, an outlet for those that produce the music, a joy for those that experience it. Music is a language in its own right. It is an essential part of living, in that it is nigh impossible to live a long life without feeling the effects of music. It is not always a life-changing experience, but you always feel something. That is music’s true power; the power to evoke emotions in a person. No two people are affected the same way by music, nor do they always have the same opinion on what they have heard. My close friend may have heavily influenced my musical taste, but the more music we experience, the more chances are likes and dislikes have to differ.

Four years ago music was revealed to me by my close friend. Four years ago I was given a precious gift. Four years ago I changed. Four years later, I haven’t wavered in my affection for music. It is always there, even when that close friend might not be, or I do no have the means in which to listen to music. It became apart of me four years ago. Those that enjoy music are not elite, they are human, and four years ago, I was redefined.