The Sounds Within Your Soul

Music. A word that has so much meaning, five little letters that together make up something that touches the lives of every person in some way. It is amazing to me! As a true lover of music, I could go on and on and on about what music means to me, which pieces and songs are long time and new favorites. That is not really the discussion today.



Friends are always recommending new music to me, and I love this! Many of the blogs I read put up playlists every so often, sharing what awesome new tunes they are enjoying. I do love discovering a new group, a song that speaks to me in some way (I am a sucker for a good lyric, any day, any time, anywhere). I tend to fall in love with the words of a song, feeling like they were written to perfectly describe the emotions and thoughts that are consuming my life at the exact moment the music wafts to my ears, touching my soul. A good melody, a certain phrase, the rise and fall of a particular movement of a piece, oh the awesomeness! I can convince myself that the composer (probably long dead) put those notes on paper, dreamed that melody into being because it is what I would someday need to hear. (Go ahead, you can joke all you want about this being just another example of it being “all about me,” but if you think about it, we all have songs that speak to us that way.) While we all prefer different genres, different artists, different composers, different arrangements of pieces, different instruments, different sounds in general, the way music speaks to us, to our souls, is something I believe to be absolutely universal.


I have been enjoying some of the new music I hear on the radio, and my Itunes account will definitely show you that. At the same time, I have been going back and listening to songs that are not as current, old school some might say. I prefer to mix my music, to find the most random combinations possible when making a playlist or a mixed CD. I find the putting together of these lists, playing with the combinations of artists and sounds, decades and songs, so interesting, somewhat therapeutic actually. I thought I would share just a few of the artists and sounds I am enjoying right now. Some are old, some are new, some might be your taste and others might make you cringe, but no matter your opinion, I like to share, so leave me your thoughts. What are you currently enjoying? What are your new faves? What oldies but goodies do you find yourself going back to time and again?


Here it goes, the oldies:

1. Neil Diamond
2. Queen
3. Billy Joel
4. Janet Jackson
5. ABBA
6. Ben Folds Five
7. Simon and Garfunkel

And, the (somewhat, in comparison) newbies:
1. Lady Gaga
2. Joshua Radin
3. Lady Antebellum
4. Brandi Carlile
5. Pink
6. Black Eyed Peas
7. Ray LaMontagne




This is not a complete list of who I listen to, and of course many single songs, not by these artists are current faves. Perhaps next time you talk to me my list of who is playing most often in my life will change, but for now, this is just a glimpse into the music in my head. I won’t specify songs, but of course, there are faves there as well.


Whatever you prefer to listen to, put on those headphone, turn on the radio, crank up your Pandora and breathe in the music, let it touch your soul in whatever way is right for you.



“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” ~Plato


“Music is an outburst of the soul.” ~Frederick Delius


“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~Berthold Auerbach