More On the Role Music Plays

Why a Tribute to Music?

There is so much history behind this question; I’m not sure exactly how to begin. As I mentioned in my entry about the glosa, “music has always been a cathartic entity in my life.” In September of 2010, I wrote my first poem expressing the way music calmed the storm within me. The poem, entitled, “Methods to Soothe Raging Emotions,” unknowingly in that moment became the first of a series. Just under a year, it was one of four, and by early 2013, the final (for the time being) and sixth poem was written. I suppose, in truth, I’ve been paying tribute to music from that first poem. At the same time, it seems to me music has been inspiring me poetically even before I met the glosa.

It makes sense that I would take the two things that help center me and bring them together – music and writing poetry. In 2012, feeling the need to rekindle my writing, I decided to write a poem every Friday that was a response to a song. The series was called, Can I Have This Dance?. Borrowed from an Anne Murray song that I had grown up with, the title was a way to express how this process of melding my poetry with music. Over the course of nine months, I composed 37 pieces in response to a song. And while this was a formal process, similar to the one I am going through now with my glosa project, that is number is probably only half the number of pieces (including the “Methods to Soothe Raging Emotions” series) written in response to either a specific song or music in general.

In fact, by end of 2013, I decided to compile the majority of them in a collection. Part of the inspiration for this was that I thought it would make a nice Christmas present for my brother. And so, I put together, Lungs: Methods to Soothe Raging Emotions. And though there is a sort of finality to things with this book, I have obviously not stop using music as inspiration for my writing. With that said, the last bit I’ll say on this subject will be in the form of the introduction to the collection of poetry.

Introduction (from Lungs: Methods to Soothe Raging Emotions)

I can remember coming in late on a debate between my brother and cousin about whether it is the lyrics or instrumentals of a song that were more powerful. Each one was on a different side of the fence. As for me, I have always been perched atop the narrow rail allowing myself to be swayed by the current of my mood.

Hidden in the depths of the lyrics is a truth only few really know. Still, they have the power to touch the mind and heart creating a unique story with every ear that listens. Lyrics can stick within the mind, an earworm continually tickling the recess of the brain. And sometimes, just sometimes, having words that one can belt out (whether one actually knows them or not) can be very cathartic.

The rhythmic waves lyrics ride on can be just as therapeutic. Instrumentals have a way of getting under the skin—syncing with or even altering the body’s internal rhythm. It is easy to get lost in the rhythm, the way it massages every tiny little nerve and frayed edge that threatens to unravel.

Part I of this collection, The Unheard Beat, speaks to how music, particularly the instrumentals, work to hold me together when the world around threatens to tear me apart. This collection started off as single poem, Methods to Soothe Raging Emotions, and turned into a series where music played a key role in settling the untamed storm within.

Part II of this collection, The Unheard Words, focuses on the story. When I was in high school, I had a teacher who in short believed that the only story was the one written, not the one read. This is not a theory to which I prescribe. Over the years, I have come to the general conclusion that everyone takes from someone else’s words their own meaning regardless of the intended (often unknown) meaning. That doesn’t mean the artist’s ideas are disregarded, just that they are molded to fit each individual and their experiences. The pieces in Part II are inspired by the meaning I hear within the lyrics.

Part III of this collection, The Unsung Words, is where the lyrics overlap with the untamed storm of emotions working tirelessly to knock me sideways. The pieces here are not so much about the story told, but the one felt. In a way, these represent my own unsung songs.