When I was looking into writing this blogpost, I had every intention of listing all the musicians who have passed on in 2016. As I researched this, I found that I was unaware of most of their passings, but not of their contributions to the music I have enjoyed in my life. I didn’t want to mirror what others have said about Prince, Haggard, Frey, and Bowie. Instead, I thought about discussing whether or not we are haunted by music.
Have you ever been singing a song, turn on the radio, and not only is the song playing, but you and it were in the same place? It’s happened quite a few times to me. And there are those songs and jingles you cannot get out of your head. But none of these are really a haunt. Paranormal, yes, but you’re not really being haunted.
How about that melody that brings, very vividly, to your eyes the events of what happened when you first heard it? Listening to Beach Boys songs suck me into a time warp, and I end up on the beach watching my older sister flirting with a boy. Cat Stevens, and I’m on that same beach flirting with a different boy. Do these songs haunt me, or do they just bring on memories?
I was sitting in an empty room and heard the distant strains of a song I couldn’t quite remember. Was it an echo from the past or my imagination? The tune stuck with me, and I tried for days to find out what it was. Had I a tuneful voice, I would have been able to sing it to The Red Pen. (She’s our go-to person when it comes to music.) But my gifts lay as far from my vocal chords as possible. I became obsessed with the tune. I remember this went on for a week. Finally, I was rescued by hearing it again. This time, I was transported to sitting in The Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches while we were sight-reading Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland. Years of playing this piece of music with other bands since my teen years must have settled it in my mind. My sanity was restored, and the haunt debunked.
So where do your haunting melodies take you?
*Aaron the Webguy edit at the end here just because without reading Alexie's blog post till today I happened to make a cover of a song I think fits the theme. I used it for my Gaming Channel for a montage and I definitely didn't just do it in one take and toss a ton of effects on it! > > Enjoy!