When Words Fail, Music Speaks

My love of music started when I was young. I must have been about 6 years old, and every night when my mum tucked me into bed she would sing to me. One of the many songs in her repertoire was 'Goodnight Sweetheart' by The Spaniels. Even though I knew she wasn't going anywhere, and that I would wake up in the bed I was in, the song used to make me sad to the point that I would have tears in my eyes. Even now, when I hear the opening melody of "Do Do Do Do Do" I still get a lump in my throat.

When I got to 11, my dad began to let me listen to his collection of casettes and CDs with him. One which really stood out to me opened with the lyrics of "She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories". Woah, this song had a deeper meaning! Suddenly songs weren't about getting boys to like you, or how boys were rubbish. This was a song that I had to hear a few times before I understood it. Was it about a dad and his little girl? Was it about a man dating a younger woman? Was it about lost childhood? I spent some time reading and re-reading the lyrics inside the CD booklet until it finally made sense, and ever since I still look for the deeper message in songs. Although looking back, looking for meaning in the song was not as fun as playing the air guitar to the opening riff. I think the amount of head-banging my dad and I did is now the reason he's almost bald!

Music is a strange and ever changing art-form. From a young age, it is used to bring people together. As children we sing nursery rhymes in groups. As teenagers we go to our first concerts and gigs with hundreds, if not thousands, of others, and as adults we dance with our loved ones at wedding receptions and birthday parties. Music joins people together and most of the time we dont even notice.

However, most of all, music conveys feelings when we can't. When I was 19, I recieved a mixed CD from a friend who wanted me to know that he had developed feelings for me (unfortunately the feelings were one sided and it felt awful to hurt his feelings). He had compiled all the songs that contained the words that he could not say to me, including the Aerosmith classic I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. This was - and still is - the kindest and most romantic thing anyone has every done for me, despite the feelings not being mutual. Music can be used to tell others what we can't say; I love you, I hate you, I miss you. It can show the world that something is wrong (I'm thinking BandAid), it can show someone you care about that something is wrong (check out the lyrics for UGH! by The 1975 - which is curretly my favourite band, but there will be more on that later). When we are unable to say the words we want to, there is a song out there that can say it better.

Music is important to me, and always has been it seems. Without music, I would not be the person I have become today. The songs I love, the songs that mean something to me and that have memories attached to them are ingrained in my head, and in my heart. I know that when I don't have the words to say, music will always be there for me to speak when I can't.

#Jodie