Mixing Melody With a Memory

Drinking Games - Library Voices

"There she goes again 
mixing melody with a memory
She's got a song for everything, 
everywhere she's been, everyone she's pleased..."

Ahh music. My life and my passion. I have a memory, because I have a song. If you want me to remember something for life, put it to music. One boy from elementary school, every time I hear a particular song, I think of him. And I haven't seen or heard from him in 35 years, he wasn't a first love or anything else memorable except the song. I have songs in my head that I associate with people, places and events. Some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But none forgotten if the right song plays. 


Sometimes, it is the melody and music or the voice that draws me to a song, but more often than not, it is the lyrics. However, that being said: when it comes to a song that is associated with an event it is often neither, but rather just circumstance that welds music and memory as one. But somehow, upon reflection that song adds meaning to the event. Ironically as much as music is important to me and my life, I do not consider myself a musician despite more than 8 years of classical piano training. I would like to be able to play guitar - so I could play some Blue Rodeo tunes :) But other than that, I don't have a real desire to make music...just enjoy it. Music is always playing in my life. Right now, I am being serenaded via iTunes on the computer and if I wander upstairs the radio is playing something quite different. I am more comfortable with the serenading sounds in the background. While the girl tolerates it, it drives the boy nuts when I watch TV with the music playing in the background. My version of multi-tasking :)


My earliest happy memories involve music. Family gatherings when the records from the old country would be put on and everyone would sing to the traditional songs of Italy. The words and music so beautiful and sung with such passion that I was homesick for a place I had never been to. Years later, relatives would ask to be taught the traditional folk songs of Canada and I could think of none except for the songs that originate on the East Coast that speak of the life of a fisherman on the waters of the Atlantic. And that brings me back to one of my most vivid and clear memories as a child of about 6 years of age. My Mom was sitting on the chesterfield and the four of us children were gathered around, learning to sing "Farewell to Nova Scotia". Many years later I would find myself wondering about this, it was an odd selection of music to teach children from Ontario who barely knew the existence of a place called Nova Scotia. I will never know for sure, but I do know that I cherish the memory and I still love the song. Music was important to Mom and she shared her love with us. Across the genres and generations, we heard it all and learned to appreciate it. In fact the earliest birthday gift I remember getting was a portable radio which I still have. While others may have snuggled a teddy bear to go to sleep, I cradled my radio and searched for signals from far away places. 


While there was nothing quite like picking up WLS from Chicago in the dead of the night, it could never quite match the pleasure that came from listening to the truly under-rated Canadian band. While others may have grumbled, when in 1971 the CRTC mandated that radio stations must play 25% of music by Canadian artists, I applauded the initiative. Without it, we may have never learned to appreciate Blue Rodeo, Corey Hart, The Stampeders and the countless other bands that did not want to lose their citizenship to break into the mighty US market. There is something about Canadian music that I find very appealing and recognizable. I have never been able to pinpoint why exactly, but I have often wagered on my belief that a new artist is indeed from the Great White North. And won! With just the expertise of a layperson who likes to listen, I would suggest that it is a depth in the content and lyrics, as well as a sound that is unique in some way, not cookie cutter produced for the masses fare. Consider for a moment rap: when the genre burst onto the mainstream scene, it was quickly followed by dozens of acts all jumping on the money making craze. Bands and artists are not discovered, they are created in the music studio. One artist sounds like the next and for the average person, difficult to differentiate. Not to belittle the genre of music, as I am a fan of Eminem - mostly because he is unique and thought provoking. The music companies want to make money and will go to extraordinary lengths to do so, as evidenced in the formation of the Spice Girls from newspaper ads and Millie Vanilli who had the look but not the talent. One boy band was successful so the race was on to find another. And so it goes. Maybe in Canada it is the thousands of smaller communities separated by thousands of miles that force musicians to develop their own sound uninfluenced by other wanna be artists? Besides the traditionally inspired music of bands like Great Big Sea, east coast musicians in particular have a sound that is like no other. Without a word about the ocean or a fish, there is a maritime feel and unique sound. Perhaps like Jim Cuddy suggested in a recent interview, Canadiana is a sound that comes from the small town experiences as well as big city living. Maybe the purity comes from the relative peaceful existence of the people and the mosaic culture of the immigrants coming together to live on and with the harsh and vast landscape. Wherever you call home, I am sure you can relate this to singer-songwriters from your own country. Ireland comes to mind as one producing many gems! Thanks for sharing :)


"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast
To soften rocks or bend a knotted oak"

 - William Congreve The Mourning Bride (1697) Act 1 Scene 1

Beyond the passion for the melody, there are other reasons to embrace the medium, as the often misquoted William Congreve stated music can soothe and calm the angered and frustrated soul. Consider the background music played at a funeral parlour, in an elevator, at a rally, at a sporting event, at the doctors office, in the mall. Music is selected for the audience and the intended reaction of that audience - do we want them excited or calm. What do we want to hear at a party? What is the choice for a romantic dinner for two? Increasingly, the medical profession is embracing the power of song to treat a myriad of mental and physical ailments. Everything from depression, addiction, stroke and Alzheimer's disease has seen beneficial effects with music therapy. Indeed this was recently well illustrated in the movie "The King's Speech" when King George VI experienced a lessened speech impediment when he put his words to music. The rhythm and sound of music illicit a primitive response that we have been reacting to since out time in the womb and afterwords with the pleasing coos of our parents and loved ones whispered in our ears. It has been proven that there are 20 areas of our brain that respond to music in both hemispheres - rhythm and lyrics on the left, melody and chords on the right. So if for example a stroke victim has lost the ability to speak which is a left brain function, she may be able to sing phrases for simple communication. People can learn to walk again using the rhythm of music - in fact, some music makes us instinctively move to the beat. The real trick lies in finding which piece of music works the best for which patient, it's all a matter of personal taste and experience. 

Now that you understand a little bit more about how music has impacted and influenced my life, you have an advantage over the traditional medical experts on how to bring me back - regardless of the diagnosis on paper. 

Play it again and Play it loud for it will speak to me!