Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Foggy out there today. I had about 90 minutes of drive time yesterday to a family event. I almost always listen to sports talk radio when I drive, specifically the NFL channel on Sirius/XM radio, but decided to listen to music instead on the way to the get together. Started out with Warren Zevon’s 1989 release “Transverse City”. Not many people know this album at all, wasn’t one of his most popular, or critically acclaimed. Cheesy 80’s production, but I’ve always liked it, and it had been a while since I listened to the whole thing. It was so cool listening to it again, like visiting with a long lost friend. Just filled me with emotion, on what was already an emotional day for me for many reasons… and I have never understood why people try not to feel and express their emotions. That’s what music is about, right?… to help you connect with the part of your soul that needs no words. Just listen. Let it take you where it takes you. We probably all have our favorite songs, albums, artists, and different things we like to listen to at different times. If I’m heading to play a show I’m usually listening to something that’ll get me “ready to rock” – Rancid, Billy Talent, The Aquabats… I want to get to the show all geeked up and ready to give it all I got. Really, I want to hit every day, every second of my life ready to “give it all I got”. Life is nothing without passion, and emotion, and really – love. The Zevon album was so obviously recorded in the 80s it led me to download another album from that era that I’ve always loved – “City Streets” by Carole King. Fantastic album, totally 80s production, highly overlooked and under appreciated. I listened to the title cut, and… just a wave of emotion swept over me. Buy why?… I really searched for answers… why is this song so emotional for me? I like the song a lot, so that’s part of it, but – I think it’s tied to that point in my life emotionally when I got the record and listened to it a lot. Right after I quit doing drugs and alcohol. A huge period of transformation. And this album was there as my spiritual and emotional guide through it all. Can’t listen to it today without bringing me back to that time in my life. Yesterday, on a normal drive to a family event, I realized just how important music is to me. After “City Streets”, I decided to revisit another long lost friend – my “music that makes me feel good” playlist. Oh, man… if you don’t have a playlist like that start one today. Just song after song that – as soon as the song starts – I’m IN. You know, the songs you hear on the radio or at a party and instantly perk up and say “I love this song!”… those songs. Make a playlist. Listen to a song from that playlist every day. For me, the ultimate “feel good” song is Andy Kim’s “Rock Me Gently”. I don’t care what anyone thinks about that song, or says about that song, or that artist… I love it. It comes on, and the world stops, and I have to listen. And smile. I hope you all know music that makes you feel like that, because there’s nothing like the feeling of listening to a song that stirs your soul. I’d love to see what songs move you as well. I hope you all have a chance to listen to something that makes you smile today. And, for God’s sake, let yourself go… FEEL your emotions… live with passion 
