The wonders of music.

Everybody has a problem with attention span. I confess that I do. People like to multi-task, which is not always a good thing.

People drink coffee in their cars while listening to Ne-Yo or PCD and using BlueTooth to chat with their girlfriends.

People listen to Nickelback while blogging, and with the advent and popularity of iPods, people can now listen to Rod Stewart while biking, or Kiss while napping in a meadow; whatever the case may be.

People rarely pay attention to what they are listening to. I am not going to go down the path of "Christian music is the only good music" here, because I don't believe that is anywhere near the truth, however I do believe in music and it's power and I want to enlighten some of you who do not realize what is going on.

Music comes in two parts; the tones and the lyrics. Some only have one or the other. Tones; chords and such can carry a huge amount of emotion, even to the point of evoking tears or ludicrous dancing, but NEVER do they invoke hatred. Music NEVER brings pain. A person can associate pain with a song (for example, whenever I hear "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", I think of Nicole, a great friend who died in a fire last year) and people can hate a style of music and build their own hatred or disgust just by hearing the music, however notes, chords, and tones can not bring hatred or pain. Music is powerful, it evokes emotion.

Lyrics are a completely different story. Bands and artists will write music about emotion, and usually about something that the artist feels strongly about. Whether an artist is singing about an ex-girlfriend, a current girlfriend, God, intentional rebellion, or even causing bodily harm of one form or another, lyrics carry a meaning. The main difference is this; lyrics CAN bring hatred, pain, or rebellion. Granted, people control their own emotions, but honestly, when was the last time YOU sat down and thought "okay, I'm in a bad mood, what actions should I take to kick this bad mood. I like Ice-cream and my friends, I'll go to braums with Josh". Seriously, people just ignore the instigator of the feelings and prefer to just feel. With this in mind, please watch what it is you listen to.

"Oh, I listen to it because they are great instrumentalists, I don't agree with the message." If you've ever said that, please pay attention to what you're saying. There are plenty of people with good messages, or at least non-violent messages that are plenty as good as x band.

"It's got a great beat and I can dance to it", but it talks about doing drugs and this and that etc...
What the heck. Listen to something that isn't so filled with hatred.

The whole point of this post is this. KNOW WHAT YOU LISTEN TO AND WHY. Listen to the lyrics. Read the lyric-sheet. Do not support something you don't stand for, if only as a character issue.

What do you listen to and why? I'm glad you asked.

Christian Rock - Do I really really need to explain this?
Other Rock - Most rock music isn't negative. I do read the lyrics though.
Electronica - It's got a good beat and you can dance to it. Very few lyrics. It evokes joy in me.
Foreign Classical - Traditional European classical bores me. Listen to Indian or Japanese music.

If music brings out hatred or rebellion in you, even if the music isn't supporting or encouraging that, please watch your attitude and maybe consider something else. You have to share this planet with billions of other people, so try not to piss everyone off.