I've often wondered why it is that we listen to music in so many different ways, why we have such different tastes in music, and what, exactly, music means to us. For some, it means getting dressed up for a performance at a concert hall, and enjoying the atmosphere, the acoustics and ambiance, and the skills of musicians playing music created by the great masters hundreds of years ago. For others it means crashing in their room, or any other place, with rock or hip hop or psychfolk piped into their ears through little headphones connected to electronic music players filled with thousands of songs.



What is it about music that draws us in and absorbs us? A classical piece like Beethoven's 9th Symphony couldn't be more different from the staccato of an edgy rap song, or soulful Blues from a dance-inspiring Polka, or haunting Celtic tunes from a playful French chanson, yet all deeply affect their listeners.

Is it the band or the singer itself? There's certainly powerful imagery, and watching a musician perform in person in a concert is a great experience. The attraction of following a performer's music and career, seeing them develop and grow, and waiting for new work with sweet anticipation is strong and explains the longevity of some musicians and the ongoing popularity of life concerts. But music really transcends the cult of personality. I don't even know who created some of the music I love best.

Some feel that word and music are intertwined and that one cannot be without the other. If that were so, neither classical nor any other kind of instrumental music would be complete. On the other hand, lyrics can make or break a song, and some lyrics are deep and meaningful, or sometimes maddeningly mysterious so that we spend hours trying to figure them out. What it all boils down to, I think, is that all music is an emotional journey, one that speaks directly to our hearts and minds.

Music can bring joy, rapture, thrill, introspection, solace and a myriad of other emotions. Music provides escape, heals wounds, and helps forget. But music is also the light and guide on the road to inner discovery, the opening of new worlds, and the key to new ways of thinking. There is nothing like music to free feeling, soften and peel away the hardened layers of our wounded souls. And music can do it in so many ways. Etheric sounds and voices, pagan tales of pink and fairie, expressions of love and longing, ballads, anger, sarcasm, love songs, and just plain windows into our souls.

Music is all that, does all that. Buying a stairway to heaven, answers that are blowing in the wind, cities that are built on rock 'n roll, the court of the Crimson King, they've all brought me to different places, altered states. As of late I've been reading lyrics by Julien Aklei and listening to her voice and to her music. What does it mean, how does it feel, why does it affect me? There's probably about a hundred ways to react to Julien's psychfolk, but mostly I just go along for the ride.