Pink Floyd first burst upon my senses in the summer of '76, and then there was epiphany.
I got "the Dark Side of the Moon" as gift, and was told by the person who gave it to me, that the music was "cosmic". I thought then, very innocently, that the person was high. I settled down to listen to it only after Dylan and Santana. I settled myself on a pile of throw cushions on the floor of my room---I listened to music, then ,lying down. Believe me, it gives you a different perspective, don't ask me why!
An hour later,I unplugged my earphones and lay gazing at the ceiling "almost catatonic"----as my sister was wont to say. That was how the Pink Floyd affected me: I had never heard anything like it before: Gilmour's glides on the guitar seemed to pluck at strange atavistic emotions, I never thought existed. The power of music. Yes, for me it was palpable and physical. All music affects me this way. I flinch when someone goes off key, sheer physical discomfort.
.
I treasured my albums and one day when my son lay convalescing in the hospital after an asthma attack, he asked for some music to listen to, and I decided to slip in Dark Side of the Moon. What happened is now history. He is a fan for life. Strange how things happen.
And now it seems music recall can , to certain extent , contain the dreadful onslaught of Alzheimer's--- so say the ever increasing information on medical research.
I was jump-started into thinking about all this when I heard the Dark Side of the Moon again last week.
I have always wondered why they named the album so. I had read in Colin Wilson's Outsider that it was a necromantic ritual in China...... but the mystery still remains, and that reverberates through the music. The multi-layered, paradox of life is exquisitely woven into it and the haunting strains keep playing inside your head forever and a day! The Great Gig in the Sky is a wonderful example of pure sound, just as primal and moving as a wolf howling at the moon.The mysterious dark side of that moon, which lights up our night sky and is a standing prop for anything "romantic".
And we hear Roger Waters keening :
"Time is the same in a relative way,but we're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death!"
Thank you for creating the music that defined a large part of my emotional landscape!
I got "the Dark Side of the Moon" as gift, and was told by the person who gave it to me, that the music was "cosmic". I thought then, very innocently, that the person was high. I settled down to listen to it only after Dylan and Santana. I settled myself on a pile of throw cushions on the floor of my room---I listened to music, then ,lying down. Believe me, it gives you a different perspective, don't ask me why!
An hour later,I unplugged my earphones and lay gazing at the ceiling "almost catatonic"----as my sister was wont to say. That was how the Pink Floyd affected me: I had never heard anything like it before: Gilmour's glides on the guitar seemed to pluck at strange atavistic emotions, I never thought existed. The power of music. Yes, for me it was palpable and physical. All music affects me this way. I flinch when someone goes off key, sheer physical discomfort.
.
I treasured my albums and one day when my son lay convalescing in the hospital after an asthma attack, he asked for some music to listen to, and I decided to slip in Dark Side of the Moon. What happened is now history. He is a fan for life. Strange how things happen.
And now it seems music recall can , to certain extent , contain the dreadful onslaught of Alzheimer's--- so say the ever increasing information on medical research.
I was jump-started into thinking about all this when I heard the Dark Side of the Moon again last week.
I have always wondered why they named the album so. I had read in Colin Wilson's Outsider that it was a necromantic ritual in China...... but the mystery still remains, and that reverberates through the music. The multi-layered, paradox of life is exquisitely woven into it and the haunting strains keep playing inside your head forever and a day! The Great Gig in the Sky is a wonderful example of pure sound, just as primal and moving as a wolf howling at the moon.The mysterious dark side of that moon, which lights up our night sky and is a standing prop for anything "romantic".
And we hear Roger Waters keening :
"Time is the same in a relative way,but we're older
Shorter of breath, one day closer to death!"
Thank you for creating the music that defined a large part of my emotional landscape!
I know exactly what you mean when you say 'The power of music'... For me, it isn't just sounds and notes put together to make you swoon. It was my medium to self-discovery really :) Can't imagine doing the things that I can today, expressing certain things the way I can, writing what I can write without being inspired by certain songs/artists.. I'm sure it's like this for most of us who really care deeply about music :)
ReplyDeleteYour son just recently introduced me to Pink Floyd. You see, I'm a hard-core Beatles fan--retro pop and hippie lyricism runs through my veins. So it took me a while to start digging them... maybe I should try your method of lying down and listening to them! :)
You write so beautifully, by the way.. with so much love and purity.. do keep at it!
Sneha