You hear that first riff of the guitar and you feel it in your bones. Your eyes light up and a smile makes it's way across your mouth. Music is your escape, music makes you feel better, music let's you pour out all of your pain. Music is you. One song starts and it turns into a whole playlist. One song into another, into another, into your life. It seems like every opportunity you have, you use a lyric from one of your favorite songs to express how you feel. Music impacts every person differently, but one thing about music is the same for everyone, it's a passion. There's one thing I can always remember, the first instance where I used music as my escape.
Growing up, cousins were easy to find, I mean I have a million. Aunts and uncles were pretty sparse, 7 on my dad's side, none on my mother's. When it came to having a close knit family though, that was my mom's side. My grandmother had six siblings, five of which I had the amazing chance to meet and bond with. They were my great-aunts and uncles, the ones who taught me all I know about my Italian heritage, how to respect my family, and even when it was hard, how to listen to my parents' requests. My most favorite uncle was always my uncle Carlo, he taught me everything I know, I'd like to thank him for my attitude. As time went on, I realized in my own young age that my great-aunts and uncles were getting older, and I didn't seem to mind. One by one they were passing on and I was hurting inside, but it wasn't until my uncle Carlo passed that something really hit me. I remember like it was yesterday, I woke up and got ready for school I was in the fifth grade and really didn't like it. I went along my whole day as if everything was perfect but when school let out, my mother hit me with the news. My uncle Carlo passed away, I can just remember sitting in the passenger seat of our van and crying my eyes out. I turned the radio up to stifle the sounds of my crying and that's when it hit me. Music was my outlet, music made me feel a little bit better. The song "Angel of Mine" by Monica came on. One of the lyrics is "how you changed my world you'll never know, I'm different now you helped me grow." That was the moment I knew that I had to do something with music. He was sending that song from the request drive in heaven straight to me. I'll never forget that moment. After this instance, I started singing. Lessons were the best thing I ever could have done, but now I'm afraid that my voice has been completely crippled by the terrible cigarette habit I had for those 2 years. I'm trying to restore my voice back to normal so I could sing to anyone like I always used to.
As the years have progressed I learned that I was into so many different genres of music. If I sit down and listen to a song, I truly listen. I dissect songs and pick them apart so that I can really analyze if I like them or not. I constantly find that I'm listening to more and more Indie and Folk music than I do any other genre. The greatest feeling in the world is to listen to a song and relate so much to the lyrics. Music teaches you so many lessons, and many of the artists of songs relate their music to their fans and listeners. Songs that have a real life meaning to the artist are the ones that I feel are most noble.
Some of the artists I listen to daily are:
Matt Nathanson
Dave Matthews Band
The Five Percent (local)
Lady Antebellum
Matthew West
Lil Wayne (I know)
Renee Olstead
Michael Buble
Tony Bennett
Rod Stewart
Basically what I want anyone who reads this post to do is to look deeper into your music collection. No matter how eclectic your taste, read into lyrics, listen as closely as you can, and don't just stimulate your ears. Every song that you listen to should be able to fit into any moment of your everyday life. Use lyrics as your getaway, use music as your medicine. Take a deep breath and listen. Make the most of today. :]
2009 NFL Mock Draft
15 years ago