Submitted by Kate Battenfeld
Carlsbad, Calif.
I usually sing, rather than listen to songs. I find that making music, rather than simply passively listening to it, helps me to clear my head, rejuvenates me after travel, and generally makes me feel happy. Often, I sing songs or hum to myself even when I don’t realize it! Song choices vary, but usually it’s just a line or phrase that resonates with me. There’s “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” (Favorite Things) when I am missing my kids, and “Bungalo Bill” (I have no idea why, but that song often gets stuck in my head.) Then there’s “Stormy Weather,” when I am feeling sorry for myself, and “Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes,” when I am particularly annoyed. (“Oh I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused…”)p>
As a society, we have become such a consumer of music, and the simple act of singing or making music within the community, or on our own time, is slowly being lost. Western culture is losing out on the joy of music-making — in many places around the world, creating music does not require anything more than the ability to speak, or play a drum. It used to be that people made music pretty much anywhere, and while I applaud the newest technologies that allow us to listen to music anywhere, anytime, it has turned music into something we “do” in isolation, rather than something that is shared by all.
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