In a message dated 98-04-01 03:52:33 EST, you write:
I'd like to mention that sometimes music can (whisper it!!) make you impossibly happy. Some songs make me grin from start to finish and revel in every second of their duration. These tend to be Disco classics and above all "Disco Inferno".
Yes indeed! Of course, having lived through disco in "real time" that particular genre still makes me cringe... high-waisted pants and platform shoes, perfect hair, gold chains.... stop! it's like a really bad flashback! The happiest music at this time of year, for me anyhow, are the songs that tell you SUMMER IS HERE!!! When I hear the Beach Boys "Fun Fun Fun" and "Surfin' Safari" -- and the beautiful "Surfer Girl" ... and Jan & Dean, and "Wipeout" -- it clears my head of all the duty and sludge of winter and puts me in the mind of days filled with sun and laughing and possibilities. The best thing is when you are stuck in traffic, just about this time of year when the weather is on the cusp of change, and you are grrrring at everyone around you, and suddenly you hear one of these golden songs on the radio. You put down the car windows, crank up the volume to full blast and start to laugh at yourself and the world around you. The grayness disappears and people passing on the street look up to see where the music is coming from -- and they start to smile as well. Maybe they are actually laughing at you -- singing off-key at a traffic light -- but it doesn't matter at all. You made them happy as well. For that minute all is sunny and warm, the light changes and you can drive really fast down the street pretending you are in a little deuce coupe with your hair blowing in the breeze.... Sad songs are too lovely and heartbreak is sometimes sooo bittersweet -- but it's good to remember that music can make one incredibly happy as well. It's true, as someone here recently said, that the music we love is caught up with our memories. When a song makes you cry, or laugh, or think of something bigger than yourself, no apologies are necessary -- the music is yours whether someone else thinks it's crap or not. That's why there are so many different kinds ... because there are so many different people with so many different strings to be plucked in their souls. Oops! approaching introspection ... going to go listen to "Sloop John B" --michele ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . Listen, this is pish, I think I'll leave -----------------------------------------------------------------------