If there were no music...

If there were no music, then I would not get through

I don't know why I know these things, but I do.

Shawn Colvin

I can easily make it through a day without sports. I know that makes me rather rare in my gender and culture. A game, a contest, a match -- interesting to watch, but when it's over it's just a score. 17 to 10. 2 to 1. 5 to 5 tie.  Even when the scores contribute to rankings and standings, sports just don't make my day. I'm happy for those who need to know the score; I'd rather conduct the score.

I can also easily skip the daily news. News seems to come in the following categories:

• bad news (i.e., disasters, scandals, violation of any or all of the 10 Commandments, things that show nature and humanity at its worst) 
• opinion (the pundit who shouts last shouts best -- regardless of facts)

I find that watching or reading the news rarely leaves me better informed. At most, it desensitizes me to the conflict, fear, and pain highlighted somewhere in the world. At worst, it contributes to a soul-numbing hopelessness that makes me feel like throwing my hands up in the air and saying "what's the point?"  In "Information Wars, Jackson Browne captures this sentiment well:

And in the flickering light and the comforting glow

You get the world each night as a TV show

The latest spin on the s#%t we're in, blow by blow

And the more you watch, the less you know...

Famine and disaster right in front of you

And the more you watch, the less you do

(Information Wars) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIU5AQ2oVtc

Elsewhere, Jackson Browne sings about "the shouts and cries of the human disaster." The bad news is told; the good news doesn't sell. Missing a day of news isn't a problem for me because the news doesn't seem to change much from day to day.

I can't go for a day without music.

It's impossible. If it's not in the air, its on my mind. Music is good news.

I wake up to a DJ (Dan Mitchell, no relation), who plays music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and each song evokes a time, a place, people, memories. Music is a vehicle for memories and emotions.  On the way to work, I play music from the 8500+ songs on my iPod; it's on shuffle so I never know what might pop up next. Songs and quotes from lyrics often show up in my discussions and written communication. Music is the universal language, if only we're willing to listen. In each of the books I've written for higher education, every essay begins with a song quote. I guess I've extended that practice in this blog.

The quote at the top comes from a beautiful song written and performed by Shawn Colvin. It's called "I Don't Know Why."  Listen:

(I Don't Know Why) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67flP6YePgs

The first time I heard that song, several years ago, it resonated clearly with me. I can't remember the circumstances, the challenges I may have been going through, or what shape the world was in that day; I just remember thinking to myself, she's right. Take away the music -- the soundtrack of my life -- and you have "...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" (Macbeth).  To be sure,  relationships would still be precious and paramount, but even they would suffer from the absence of harmony, rhythm, counterpoint, tempo, and melody.

I don't mean to suggest that sports and news aren't important, their sound and fury notwithstanding. I'm suggesting that they're only a part of the picture. For me, the picture needs a soundtrack.  Music even plays an important role in setting the stage for news and sports, movies, television, religious observances, fireworks displays -- and so on.

I grew up in a church that didn't allow instrumental music in services. Despite significant evidence of flutes, lyres, drums, cymbals, trumpets, harps, and more in our Bible, the elders of the group determined that because instrumental music was not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, it should not be included in services. As a teenager , I once asked one of these elders, "Air conditioning and carpeting weren't mentioned either, but we have those here; what's the difference?"  He informed me that someday I would understand.

I don't.

Music should be at the heart of our celebrations, ceremonies, and gatherings, and if instruments enhance the experience, bring them on!  But, as James Taylor sings about his guitar, "If he can't go to heaven, baby, I don't want to go."

Songs about babies and children, falling in love, experiencing loss and suffering, holding out hope for the future, regret what might have been, picking up the pieces and starting over.

Give us this day our daily tunes.

I'll glance at the news on TV now and then, maybe listen to a little Public Radio. I'll even take in a college football game on a crisp autumn day, and I'm not going to miss those Super Bowl commercials. But if there were no music...well, I hope I never encounter a day like that. If I do, I'll probably write a song about it.

I'll close with one I made up on the spot for a broken-hearted college classmate many years ago. It didn't change the world, but it made her smile.

(Our Songs For You) http://www.bandizmo.com/user/player.php?page=songs&member=2819&nr=35