Where Would We Be Without Music?

   As I sit here writing this post, I'm listening to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the flute and synthesizer that were used in the song La Folie 2  by New Age artist Deuter. It's one of several songs I've downloaded by this artist. He's so incredibly talented. I was looking on my Ipod and see that I have 686 songs downloaded onto it. Frankly, there have been a few that I wish I hadn't downloaded, but for the most part I'm delighted by them all. I was thinking of how much a part of our every day lives music is, and I wondered, where would we be without it? It would be like strolling through  a garden without color or scent. My musical tastes are quite diverse.  In the past six months I've downloaded songs ranging from the deep twangy voice of Johnny Cash to the mellow Charlie Rich in the country venue, new age music from John Adorney, Deuter, and the husband, wife and daughter team that make up the group 2002.I've got a song titled Release Me by the heart throb of every middle aged housewife in America at the time, Engelbert Humperdink. I honestly don't know if that's his real name or not, but he had a voice that was impressive and looks to match. I've ordered songs that I've heard on Sirius radio on their Sixties on 6 program with Cousin Brucie. In fact, about two weeks ago a fellow called and asked to hear a song by a sixties group called The Nightcrawlers. They sang a song that Brucie claims didn't even make it onto the charts called The Little Black Egg. I remembered the song though from the radio back in "67". It's quite a catchy tune, so I don't know how it didn't make it into the top 100, except that it was competing with so much good music of the time. I've got several songs by Tony Orlando and Dawn. They sang a song called Knock Three Times that was very popular back in my hometown in the late sixties at the local roller skating rink. It's funny, a song can come on and you will be instantly transported back in time to whatever was happening when you heard it originally. What would Hollywood do without great composers setting the stage for what was happening. I'm listening to the end credits from the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks. It's the same music that was playing when he got off the island in a raft and the volleyball he had named Wilson drifted off. He was devastated, and it made me cry as well. Hearing the song I can vividly recall the scene. I've got songs from Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer who provided the music for so many spaghetti westerns like A Fistful of Dollars, and Once Upon a Time in the West. Who can forget the opening scene with Charles Bronson having a shootout at the train station when you hear that harmonica start playing. A few months back I had a memory of a song called Sing Along by a band leader named Mitch Miller. He had a program on TV years ago when I was a boy. It was called Sing Along With Mitch. When my grandma used to visit I had to watch it, which at the time I hated. Mitch had a goatee and when he conducted he used to move his arms just a few inches, which was comical to watch. The show displayed the words to whatever song was being sung at the time and there was a yellow bouncing ball that moved under each word so you could sing if you wanted to. Of course I never wanted to, but I think Grandma couldn't contain herself sometimes. Television commercials have made great use of music. Alka Seltzer had a popular commercial back in the sixties which showed all manner of stomachs. The slogan was -Alka Seltzer, for whatever shape your stomach is in. Anyway, the music that went with it was so popular that they made a recording of it. I listened to that on Cousin Brucies show a few weeks back. What memories. In any event, music is just such a blessing to enjoy. I can't imagine being unable to hear. I hope that you'll take some time to reflect on a favorite song, and hopefully it will bring back a pleasant memory for you as well.