The Power of Music

I found the coolest website today. It’s www.pandora.com-- a place where you can build your own web radio station. You plug in an artist or song and it automatically programs songs in that genre of music to listen to over the web.

The first radio station I built was James Taylor Radio. Within the course of a half-hour I not only heard JT, but Eagles, Jackson Browne and Harry Chapin---all artists and songs that I loved back in high school and college. I listened for hours and for the first time in a long time I felt connected to something from my past. It took me back to a time when music really meant something to me.

Music, especially when we were back in high school and college, not only provided a soundtrack for our lives, it defined who we were. In my school you were either a Rocker, a Disco-Head or a Folkie. I was a Folkie. Even dressed the part---short-sleeved peasant blouse over a long sleeved Danskin, corduroy jeans and Earth Shoes. Music gave us a place, a platform and most of all, an identity. I remember spending hours learning the lyrics to my favorite songs, clinging to every word, trying to unlock its special meaning for me. Pretty powerful stuff for a very insecure teen.

While listening to my marathon music session, so many emotions washed over me--happiness for all the good times, wistfulness for the friends that have drifted out of my life -- I even shed a tear or two for unrequited love.

My friend has a blog in which he describes his generation as the “Louie, Louie” generation—the generation of people who came right before the baby boom. “Louie, Louie” is all about attitude and state of mind. It’s brilliant. It got me thinking about finding a song for our generation of boomers who need to reconnect to a time when music had the power to make us laugh, to make us cry and to make us feel part of something very special.

Any suggestions?