Music is much like breathing. I need it.
I love silence also; it's in quiet moments I retreat within and discover new parts of me, but music helps bring me back out and provides a soundtrack to dance to throughout life and depending on mood I change the music. Hmm, also depending on the music I change my mood.
My musical tastes are varied however one thing is constant; the music I listen to has to move me for me to want to hear it. I have to feel something from the music I listen to and that's why, mostly these days, I don't listen to much modern music at all. I find it repetitive, shallow and soulless.
It is incredibly difficult to single out particular songs or pieces of music amongst the many I love however I've done so in this post. These aren't my only two favourites, just two that move me, reach inside and touch my heart and soul, that I love, and which take me back to moments in my life that have meant more than I could explain here, then and now.
La vie en rose
Back a few weeks I wrote this post outlining a particular time of my life in which I found such beauty around me and within. It felt almost like being reborn and, in some strange way, it was exactly that I suppose and, as usual, music accompanied me on that journey. As I unfolded as a woman music played along, colouring my life and those memories and, to my great happiness, that unfolding and colourisation still brightens my life, as does the music that helped it happen.
One of my all time favourite songs is La Vie En Rose by French singer, Edith Piaf.
The song was written in 1945 and has been remade to this day, so popular it is. The link above is a Melody Gardot version from about ten years ago. You can listen to the original Edith Piaf version here if you wish to. Here's some lyrics below.
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
Every time I hear the song I'm taken back to those beautiful months in France where I found peace, healed, searched for, and found, myself.
I remember hearing this song playing on an old record player in a tiny village in the Loire Valley as I wandered the tiny main street and recall the way I smiled as my feet carried me towards it. I stood outside and listened to the cracks and pops of the record playing and closed my eyes. It was in that exact moment I realised I was finally the version of myself I wanted to be. From that moment the song has meant a great deal to me.
Pachelbel's Canon
My second choice goes back even further in time, to the late 1600's.
I chose this piece of music, Canon in D Major, to accompany me one on one of the most momentous and happy days of my life and to this day every time I hear it I'm reminded of that lovely spring day, flowers, the smile I couldn't remove from my lips and how, from that day, my life changed forever.
There are so many versions of this music and I have several which I play regularly. If you're read a few of my posts you'll know I spend an inordinate amount of time in the bath, because baths are awesome, and my Canon playlist is something I listen to a lot. There's some really great versions, including remixes and some lovely slow and haunting ones also; laying back, soaking in the water, eyes closed listening to this music...well, it's a guilty pleasure. Here's two versions I also like, this one and this one too.
I was really pleased to see this writing suggestion this week as I simply love music. I'm going to cheat a little though and add a third which is Many dreams ago by Stoto. I've been listening to my Stoto playlist as I write this post, and over the last few days, I just love the smooth beats. I'm sorry for cheating and adding a third but figured I might get away with it, because I'm cute.
This post has been written for the 104th week of the #weekend-engagement concept by @galenkp and featured in THE WEEKEND community.
Becca 💗
If there is an image in this post I took it myself, or someone took it of me, for me