Intimate Thoughts on Music

Sometimes music can do things for me that no other thing can. I am one of those people who loves music, I mean, it is beauty to me. Any emotion I have is there somewhere in a song. Music and words are the most beautiful form of artistic expression to me. If you could ever hear what is going on inside someones head, if you listened to mine you would hear music. Sometimes only music can match the depth of emotion that I have going on inside of me. It is the only satisfying expression of the sum of all that is erupting inside my soul. Some people enjoy music, but for me, it is necessary... Without it, I would wither.

In The Shawshank Redemption, one of my favorite movies of all time, there is a scene when Andy Dufresne, the innocent banker who was wrongly imprisoned, locks the door to the warden's office and plays a recording of an Italian opera over the intercom system for the entire prison to hear. There is a beautiful quote about music that comes after this scene by Morgan Freeman, who plays Red, a guilty man who has lived most of his life in prison...

Red: [narrating] "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free." After Andy was released from "the hole" he and Red were talking about the stunt he pulled....
"Andy Dufresne: That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?
Red: I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here.
Andy Dufresne: Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.
Red: Forget?
Andy Dufresne: Forget that... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.
Red: What're you talking about?
Andy Dufresne: Hope.

Music is the most beautiful thing on earth to me. Even the blind can see music. Even the deaf can feel it. Who can ever forget the performance by former Miss America, Heather Whitestone, the first hearing impaired pageant contestant, at the 1995 Miss America Pageant where she performed a magical ballet piece to "Via Dolorosa. Music is powerful.

So, I am not the first to think this about music. I know that. So many have written or said the same thing I am writing. We express our love in music, our sorrow, our pain, our desires... our passion. We worship God by praising Him in song. We worship God by enjoying the beauty of music and of his creation, for it is He who created every note and it is He who created in us this powerful connection to song and melody. He created us in His image, and gave us the gift of the creation of music as well. We are enjoying His creation when we enjoy music. All music is relevant to God. All music is a reflection of His creation. I am ready for someone to say that only "Christian" music is relevant to God. If so, please comment and wear your boxing gloves, cause were gonna fight. I wish more Christian artists would stop selling out and write music that people other than just those who burned all of their tapes in the 90's can listen to. I feel like Christian radio is good, but isolated and limited, well, to "Christian" radio. I did not always think this. There were probably three years where I never listened to anything other than Christian music. If I did dip my toes back in secular waters I felt guilt and shame. I also regretfully burned all of my Cure and Led Zeppelin tapes. Thank goodness we have all moved on to MP3's so I can get over it now. I digress.

I am very excited about some new artists I have recently be-fanded. Mat Kearney is at the top of my list. He is intelligent, artistic, and relevant. His music is appealing to me on many different levels. The words, they are thoughtful, culturally relevant, and down right cool. He has the same melodic sound as Coldplay, but not as depressing. It is pretty clear that he is a believer. It excites me that people who know nothing of Christ stand in the audience or sing along on the radio to "Indescribable" or "Won't Back Down". His lyrics sneak up on you in the same way that U2's frequently do. I highly recommend him. But that is just me.

Enjoy this clip, and be free.