All About Us: A Dracut Weblog

The Haunting of Me.


I suppose there is the standard definition of the word 'haunting' or 'haunted'. No, I'm not going to go look them up. Typically though, haunting connotes something scary, or at the least something to make you a bit anxious.

I am haunted by music. I am struck to the core, when I hear certain tunes. It doesn't have to be scary, or even anxious rending.

Certain songs though, just make you feel --- what? Ah, I guess it doesn't matter what it makes you feel, just as long as you ARE feeling.

Yes, it's the feeling, isn't it?
Plenty of music makes us feeling nauseous, or a step closer to epilepsy even. Much of it is wonderous though.

"Amazing Grace". Yeah, that IS amazing. The song is beautiful in its simplicity. In the same Christian vein is "Thy Word" Amy Grant does a good turn at this. Even better is to hear a room full of 13 - 17 year olds singing right along with her. The same kids that just raved on about My Chemical Romance, or their plans to see Aerosmith. The same kids that pelted you with snowballs on the last retreat. Those kids, singing their hearts out to "Thy Word".

Wondeous indeed.

Speaking of Aerosmith - and there's alot of great tunes there - but let's get into "Walk This Way". It's all of what Aerosmith was and is meant to be. Rockers at the first, last and in between. Sassy, loud, confident rockers. Sung by themselves, or with Run DMC. Sung in an arena, or lip-sync-ed in someone's bedroom. An invitation to a party -- to walk this way.

So cool.

This would be cheating - but there's a ton of stuff I just love on the Love Actually sound track. What haunted me though? That Dido song, of all things. "Here with Me". The song had plenty of airplay, and it was 'ok'. After seeing the movie though, now I freakin' love it! That's the thing though, after seeing certain songs connected with a fresh story - it makes a difference.

Just like one of my favorite U2 songs, "Streets Have no Names". The music video that accompanied this song depicted of a brazen act of just saying, "What the F(*k". The band was taped playing on a rooftop, the setting was downtown L.A., and the mood was defiant fun. As a friend of mine says, "Don't ask for Permission - ask for Forgiveness" - and U2 was playing without permission and eventually got silenced.

It's gotten too late to be coherent here, but the music is still there; doing its haunting thing.