Music

I was looking over my blog and I realized somehow I have yet to talk about music. I wonder how I have gone this long with out saying anything about it. I happen to love music. I mean I think most people do, but music, for me is so much more than just noise and a rhythm. I have talked about the power words have, but one of the other powers that goes beyond words, to the realm of magic is music.

Music can easily bring you to a happy state of mind, or push you of a cliff into the depths of self loathing and hatred. Music is, I believe the greatest gift God has made for us. How I see it, Science is the window into God's mind. It allows us to learn, think and see how God made things work. Music is then the window into God's heart. It shows us how his love flows through everything.

Music seems to act as magic. There are tunes, or rhythms that get into our heads and allows us to change moods rather easily. There is music that makes me mad, sad, happy, joyous, and everything in between. For me, I like most of all music, except I really hate rap, R&B, hip-hop, all the various forms of country and the jazz and blues. My 'editor' told me I should change this last sentence to say that I don't hate them, but they are very low on my list. I suppose this is true, I do not hate them because there are about 2 songs that I don't mind. A good heavy metal song will cheer me up much in the same way that classical is relaxing, or stirring, or even energizing depending on what you are listening to.

 

Music seems to dig deep into our souls, and reading history books, it always has. Records of people playing music and singing goes as far back as the records themselves. There are musical notations from Greece as far back as 300BC and maybe even farther back. Music has been so often part of our lives, that sometimes it feels like our lives have a sound track to them.

I can easily picture music being used like magic in a fantasy novel. I want to shoot a fire ball, I will play a F# chord. You want to put up a wall? Well play a b7th sus.  Everyone knows that a sustained chord will block incoming attacks. Music doesn't really work like that, but maybe in some parallel universe it can.

That is one thing that is so great about music. It goes so much farther than just vibrations in the air. It goes right down to the fabric of our souls. Music will always be an important part of who I am. I might not rock out on a guitar or serenade on a violin, but finding great music and making connections with that music is enough for me. Maybe someday I will learn to cast magic with a violin, like a short story idea I once had, but for now I am content in listening to others magic.

One of those magic bands I fell in love with instantly, is called Quiet Science. I have quoted from their songs in the past, and might have even mentioned how much they have effected me. I followed a link to them from another band I like, Showbread, where the lead singer was talking about bands that didn't get the play time that they deserved. Quiet Science is one of those bands. They are so far underrated that they barely have a following on Facebook, with less than 3,000 followers.

This needs to change. Quiet Science is nearly music perfection. The blend of the instruments and the dual vocals creates something that is closer to magic than noise. The first time I listened to them, I instantly fell for their sound. I quickly found myself wrapped in a musical blanket, or embraced by the musical stanzas. I am not sure exactly what I was feeling, but I couldn't get enough of it.

That was about 3 months ago, maybe a bit more, and the album, Dark Words on Dark Wings is never far from my CD player and I made a playlist just for them. I emailed them once to ask a question, and even got a reply from the actual members of the band, not some people who work for them. I find so much comfort in their music, I eagerly await the next album coming out sometime this year.

Until then, I hope you find some music that will wrap you up in the notation and never let you fall. I also highly suggest you go and take a listen to Quiet Science. I hope them the best and the new album will be the one to break them out of their limited obscurity and into the lime light they so greatly deserve.

https://www.facebook.com/quietscience
http://quietsciencemusic.com/

Steel and Flesh, Hammer and Bone

Half way through the month, and I have yet to come up with a something good enough to post. I have been writing on a few, but they are just not flowing out like I had hoped they would. So I sat down one night and thought, "What can I do for my blog?" Answer was, "Write a poem."

So I sat down on my trusty Chromebook, and started writing something. I began with something that I enjoy, the cold. I enjoy winter more so than summer, a lot more so in fact. In winter, I get to wear nice coats, hoodies, cool knit hats, and if I'm really cold, all of them at once. In summer, if I am too warm, all I can do is sit in an air conditioned room and hope it cools me off so I don't stick to the chair anymore. I have many more reasons I love winter, but I will maybe tell you about them another time.

So I sat and wrote the first bit of the poem and suddenly it started to take a direction. Vikings! I love the vikings. I love the boats, the way they lived, the housing, the drinks, the women, and most other things. So I kept writing and below is what I wrote. It is called Steel and Flesh, Hammer and Bone. If I were a viking, I think I would use a shield and a hammer or an ax. They feel right in my hand.

I hope you enjoy the poem and I hope that I can come up with something soon for you, outside of epic poems. Maybe I will be lucky enough to have a funny story to tell you.



Steel and Flesh, Hammer and Bone

The cold wind blows,

Frost eating at our bones,

Bravely we face the wind,

Stand ready to fight.

The glory of battle will soon fall,

When our swords meet flesh,

And our hammers meet bone,

And souls meet our lord.

The raiding clan of cowardly men,

Have been slowly working in,

Toward the heart of kingdom,

To steal our women and gold.

But we meet them on the frozen hills,

Blades let loose and shields raised high,

Together we stand as brothers,

We will live or die as one.

May Valkyries take the honorable men,

To the gates of Valhalla,

To Odin's table of war and mead,

And honor be to those who die.

But for the cowards who do come,

Let Hel ride off with thee,

Know no drinking or joy,

But misery and shame.

We sing out battle songs,

The sound echoing across the land,

We fill out hearts with battle joy,

As we march down to meet our foe.

The songs of steel and flesh,

Hymns of hammer and bone,

Fill the cold air around,

As we paint the snow red.

May they remember our deeds,

Raise stones in our memories,

May they never forget,

The glory of this battle day.