What We Take From Art: Music
I have so much music that has defined me in my life. It can be single songs that perfectly portrayed what I was feeling at the time to a whole artist that helped me on my journey in life. It brings back memories whenever we hear it. Comforts us in our time of need. To just giving us an energy boost to get something done. (We’ve all danced in our rooms while cleaning.)
But there have only been a few that have really hit me and held me for years.
Taylor Swift
I’m not ashamed to say I’ve loved Taylor Swift’s music since Teardrops On My Guitar. I’m not sure if its because we are close in age or just how she made me feel weird for the things I was feeling. Her lyricism has always caught me.
Over the years I grew with her. Through the ups and downs of fake friends, first loves and heartbreak, to standing in your own strength. She had to grow up in the limelight and it was rarely forgiving. But its been comforting to see her come into her own these last few years. Standing up for what’s right and enjoying her music again.
Evanescence
I was a bit of an angsty teen myself, but not in the normal sense. I had some of the fashion, but I didn’t wear it everyday. So you couldn’t say I was really a part of that crowd. I was friends with some there and hung out a lot. Even going to punk rock concerts. But Evanescence always called to me. With their combining ethereal and rock (Amy Lee is a classically trained pianist).
When my emotions were running wild and I just didn’t know what to think or feel this was the music I would blast in my room. It may sound disturbing but it soothed whatever was raging inside.
BlackPink
This was my first real dive into KPop. Funny enough it came about on a day of going down a Youtube rabbit hole. I got onto reaction videos and they were reacting to the newly released music video DDU-DU DDU-DU. Man I was hook on that beat. Then I started watching other videos of their. I’ve always loved dance so watching them practice was so fun. (Lisa is my bias, plus gotta support another fellow SE Asian.)
But what really kept me was that some of their songs came out just at the right time for me. Kill this Love really hit me in the face when I was thinking of divorce. Since I like to listen to some songs on repeat it was a constant reminder of what I needed to do, but just given in a different wavelength. But I will always be grateful for their music for its timing.
BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan / 방탄소년단)
Yes I am ARMY, and not because its popular now to be so. During that rabbit hole I went down searching for BlackPink videos I found a lot of their too. I loved that videos too but it took a few months to really fall for their music (more because I only could be obsessed with one thing at a time). Plus, I was in a girl power kick at the time. But when I got back into listen I really loved the message they had.
While BlackPink gave me the strength to leave, BTS helped me build myself back up. I listen to them a lot right now, more because they were the few artists that were very active during the Pandemic (along with Taylor Swift). That was much needed comfort when we were all stuck at home and could hardly see anyone.
We all take what we need form the media that we consume. We are lucky if we can find music that really speaks to us and validates our thoughts and feelings. Let me know some of you favorite songs and artists.
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