Love (Life) is a Mix Tape!

I read this book last year and it somehow ended up in my hands today, so I decided to flip through it. This is seemingly a book about mix tapes, but it is much more than that. Rob Sheffield, a veteran rock and pop culture critic and staff writer for Rolling Stone magazine, writes an intriguing and honest account of his life with the love of his life, Renee. The only thing they had in common was their love for music. They were married for 5 years before she suddenly passed away on Mother’s Day in 1997. They made tons of mix tapes, which they obsessively compiled and there was a tape for every imaginable moment. Each chapter begins with a reprinted track list of a tape from that era of their lives.

It made me contemplate how songs and music in general can stir powerful emotions and transport us back in time! Have you ever listened to a song and got completely lost in the moment? A certain line, rhythm or rhyme can wreak havoc on our emotions without us even realizing how it happened! Memories evoked by music usually come from certain times in our lives. Psychologists have called it the ‘reminiscence bump’. This is especially true for music from our youth, when we experience things for the first time – everything is new and meaningful! It can be a song that you danced to with your Grade 8 crush (Everything I Do, I Do It for You by Bryan Adams), a song that marked your first ever holiday without adults (Zombie by The Cranberries) or a song that instantly transports you to your university days (Dust in the Wind by Kansas).

The hippocampus and the frontal cortex are two areas in the brain that help us with memory. They take in a lot of information on a continual basis, and it is not easy retrieving all of that information. Music helps us ‘unlock’ some information because we have cues in the form of rhythm and rhymes. For example, children learn the ABC song quite easily, even though they cannot name each letter individually. The melody and rhythm of the ABC song makes it easier for the child to recite the letters.

Music is therapy. Listening to a song can have a profound effect on your mood. When I hear Dire Straits (my favourite band), I am instantly hooked, and every song is magical in its own way. Mark Knopfler’s (vocals and guitar) fingerpicking and captivating lyrics are pure poetry; they move me like no other! His songs have a way to my soul, and it is fascinating to think how many times I have heard some of these songs, yet they still sound very fresh and full of potency. This is pure quality at play, which trumps everything else!

Music is invincible. It doesn’t conform to any political or religious views. It is a medium that breaks all barriers and manages to find the path to our souls. It brings people together; a social glue that unites people and, more importantly, unites us with ourselves!

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Keywords/Keyphrases

-flip through: look quickly through a book, magazine, etc.

-get lost in the moment: being so immersed in something, usually something enjoyable, that you completely lose track of all time.

-wreak havoc: to cause chaos or destruction or both.

-hippocampus: the elongated ridges on the floor of each lateral ventricle of the brain, thought to be the centre of emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system.

-frontal cortex: the gray matter of the anterior part of the frontal lobe that is highly developed in humans and plays a role in the regulation of complex cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning.

-to be hooked: strongly attracted to something or someone.

-fingerpicking: a method of playing a stringed instrument (such as a guitar) with the thumb and tips of the fingers rather than with a pick.

Music Idioms

1. Music to (someone’s) ears: something that is pleasant and sounds nice. Can be about sounds or about words that someone says.

Hearing people say how much they enjoy my food is music to my ears.

2. Have to face the music: when you or someone has to accept the negative consequences of something that has happened. To face a problem or a challenge.

He has to face the music and talk to them; he created these problems, so he has to solve them.

3. March to the beat of your own drum: this is to describe someone who is a bit unique and does things their own way no matter what others think.

My sister is the only artist in the family and really marches to the beat of her own drum.

4. It takes two to tango: this is to show that there are two sides in any conflict or something that has gone wrong. That neither party is completely innocent.

My mom always says, “it takes two to tango,” when my brother starts a fight with me.

***Some of the songs that were filling up my ears (and soul) while I was writing this post:

Dust in the Wind - Kansas

Black - Pearl Jam

She’s Like the Wind - Patrick Swayze

Dreams - The Cranberries

A Place Where We Used To Live - Mark Knopfler

Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers

Romeo and Juliet - Dire Strats

Six Blade Knife – Dire Straits

Nocturne No.20 in C-Sharp Minor - Chopin

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