There is one thing in life that always has and always will make me happy: music. Ever since I was a little girl music has been a part of my life and a really big part at that. My parents are both music lovers so it came as no surprise that I would follow right in their footsteps. The first sign of things to come (and I honestly still remember this) was when I was three years old and I discovered what would become my first favorite song – “Jesse” by Carly Simon. That song became my world. I wore a cassette player on a strap across my body (there is a picture of this that I will find at my parents and post one day) and played the song on repeat. My mom recorded a version of me singing along with the track on our old school tape deck and in true Stacy fashion of taking what I love to the extreme, we got a dog, and I named him Jesse. I lived and breathed this song as a wee little three-year old so it really shouldn’t come as a shocker that my life continued along this path.
I have had the privilege to meet and befriend a select few who truly understand the power that music can hold and the meaning it can bring to one’s life. Forgive me if I’m about to come across as a music snob at this point, but I need to say this: not everyone truly gets it. I have referenced my favorite movie before and I’m about to do it again, because it is the best quote to convey exactly what I’m talking about. In the gem of America cinema known as “Almost Famous” the band-aid Sapphire speaks the most poignant words of the film; the ones that made me weep with relief and joy that there were people out there (albeit fiction) that understood me and how I felt. She said, ”They don’t even know what it’s like to be a fan. To truly love some little piece of music or some band so much that it hurts”. Now just picture me in the movie theater trying to hide how hard I was crying tears of joy from those words that gave me a sense of relief that I wasn’t crazy for holding such a big piece of my heart for music and the people who bring it to me. (Yes, I was also twenty-one and beyond emotionally unstable, but still it would most likely have a similar effect on me if I had just seen it for the first time today).
Back to the people who ’get it’. We are the ones that take our love one step further than the average music fan. We are the people who can give you an accurate play by play of some of our favorite shows. We are the people who apply and follow rules when it comes to music listening, concert attending, mixtape making, and the art of a healthy debate on the state of music then and now. We are the people who don’t just hear the music, but we feel it. Not just in our ears and our toes, but our breath, our hearts and our souls. If you want to find us, just go to a show where you can clearly see the faces of those in attendance and take a close look. The hardcore music lovers have a smile on their face that can’t be faked. It is the glow of someone totally in the moment and in tune with the artist and what they are putting forward through the speakers and beyond. Now look at the person next to them. They might be smiling, bobbing their heads, and even fumbling through the lyrics, but do they have that glow? Nope. Nothing against them, I’m all for anyone supporting music in any way shape or form (well not really those that buy Paris Hilton or Miley Cyrus albums but that’s for another post), but it really just isn’t the same.
I don’t mean to sound judgemental of music ‘likers’ out there, but you never will and probably never could understand what music means to me. And that’s okay. We all have our passions and I hope to god you have something other than music cause a passionless person is one I simply cannot understand and to be honest one I feel badly for (you’re missing out!) If I didn’t have a heart and soul that was devoted to music then I’m not really sure how I’d get through a good chunk of my days. Yes, I love my friends, family and my other hobbies in life, but damnit how do you get through a bad day without your favorite song? How do you celebrate a special occasion without a special made mix? How do you express how you feel without song lyrics? Yep, not a life I can nor want to understand.
In a nutshell of what turned out to be a very long rant – I am a music lover. I will always be the ten-year old that was on the cover of the local paper wearing a Bon Jovi t-shirt. I will always travel to see music before I travel to do something ‘responsible’. I will always be the girl who would sit on hold for hours waiting for Z100 to play my request. I will always write down my favorite lyrics, I will always talk about my favorite band, I will always cry when a song tugs at my heart, and I will always sing along at the top of my lungs when an eighties classic comes on the radio.
If you dare to call me a groupie, I will give you an earful like you wouldn’t believe. For I am not a groupie, I am a band-aid. And we are here for the music.
