Can Music Save Your Mortal Soul

At some point this summer I fell in love with music again. Didn’t know that I’d fallen out of love with it, but there is definitely a difference now. Not sure when it happened either. Perhaps it was when my morning radio show started sucking it up. Perhaps it was when I fell in love with Marc Broussard. Oh wait, I know! It was when my former CNN wannabe self got too depressed with the world to listen to the news on NPR. Yes, that’s definitely it! So here’s to finding a silver lining in the world’s misery.

Anyone who glances at my playlist can tell rest assured that my music tastes do not a pioneer me make. Perhaps a pirate, but not a pioneer. I’m really not that original. I am not patient enough to pour over the suggested artists on myspace and Pandora. I mostly just wait around for a song to find me. Interestingly, I live in Austin, home of ACL, SXSW, and a slew of homeless musicians, but I don’t do much of the live music scene thing. That could be because I have a four-year old and a husband who provide me with plenty of musical entertainment, albeit the tried and true kind, on Rock Band. Truly you have not lived until you’ve watched your four year old ROCK OUT to Harvester of Sorrows by Metallica, jam to Wasn’t Me by Shaggy, or belt out “I turned 21 in prison doing life without parole”. That’s right, we’re terrible parents. Bring it on.

Did I mention that he can also pick out classical music artists when we’re walking through the grocery store? “Mommy that song was by Mozart.” He can also read, write, and cipher a bit; calls himself a “sloth” when he hangs upside down at the playground, knows the difference between a Storm Trooper and a Clone Warrior, and can often announce the name or artist of a song after hearing only a few notes. It’s almost enough to bring a Tear to My Beer! But I digress. . .Or did I? I started talking about music and I got sidetracked on my baby. But in my opinion there are two things in the world that can bring about tears or smiles in under 5 seconds—babies and the right (or wrong) song at the right (or wrong) time.

So, I know that God is the only one that can save my mortal soul, but it was definitely a hymn that got me to the alter. And now, I’ll Fly Away, Just As I Am, Softly and Tenderly to bed. Good Night Sweetheart, Good Night.