HOT DAMN #32 — Finding the Right Song at the Right Time

LIFE’S WONDERS PRAISED IN SUGGESTIVE, ODDBALL, AND NONSENSE WAYS

As a counterpoint to my usual cynical antics, I’ve committed myself to a weekly, year-long discussion of my life’s joys.  But, never one for the more traditional approaches, I intend to keep things a little off side, a tad outlandish, and always one foot outside of polite company.

//FINDING THE RIGHT SONG AT THE RIGHT TIME//

Music has a funny way of catching you off guard.

Just when you think you have your emotions in check, some unsuspecting song plays out over the radio that trips you up and makes you spill out all those silly feelings you thought you’d mastered.

Turns out you hadn’t. And out comes the feels.

How many feels? All the feels.

I should really stop weeping at work – it weirds my boss out.

*screen capture from the lyric video of Frank Turner’s “Get Better”

But here’s the thing: the song that does it for you might not do it for someone else. In fact, that other person might look at you like you’re three biscuits short of barking mad. That’s okay. The important thing is to take the time to enjoy the song for yourself.

Apparently it’s important to actually feel your emotions.

Lately, the songs that do it for me are (maybe, sort of) downers, like Against Me!’s “Ache With Me.” That song in particular strikes a very specific nerve, and I’m probably smitten with it in a way that’s not entirely healthy.

But let’s keep things light. So, moving on . . .

Most recently, Frank Turner’s “Get Better” has gotten me bobbing my head and saying, “Hell yeah! Things can get better.”

Maybe you don’t know Turner. Some describe his music as punk rock for adults, but maybe it’s better to describe it as folk music with punk flavorings. Whatever – it probably doesn’t matter. The point is I’m really digging what he does. And while I may not rank his latest album, Positive Songs for Negative People, as highly as his older efforts, I can’t help but identify with the album’s sentiment – it’s probably exactly what I need

You likely have your own songs; I hope you do. And maybe I wouldn’t fully understand why those songs mean as much to you as they do, but that hardly matters. Music is as much a personal and individual affair as it is a cultural one.

So take joy in the songs that hit home. Feel all the feels.

It’s worth it.

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Did you miss last week’s entry on BEING INTROVERTED?  Catch up here.

For a full list of all HOT DAMNs, click here