Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Music is a strange thing

Music is a funny thing. You may listen to a band's album/cassette/CD/MP3s a lot when it first comes out. You may go see the band in concert when they come to town. You get to know the music inside and out.

But eventually you move on to something else. Sure you come back to the music every once in a while but there comes a time when the CD stays on the shelf for an extended amount of time.

Time moves on and you do as well. The band puts out some new music. You may like, you may not. Maybe it isn't as good. Maybe the new album doesn't sell as well as the band had hoped. Soon they are fighting and breaking up. They may lose their record deal. Soon they are no more. Guitarists who once played in front of thousands of adoring fans are now putting up billboards on the side of the road.

That paragraph can explain many bands from different genres and different decades. It is a cycle that just doesn't stop. It is only the few that are able to keep it going beyond a couple decades.

But music is a funny thing. If you are a fan of any particular band, I'll bet there is at least one album by that band you pretty much know by heart. You know all the lyrics, the guitar solos, the breaks in the music. the na-na-na-na-na parts. The grunts and 'oh yeahs' the lead singer adds. You know it.

And that is the funny thing about music. Even if you haven't listened to some music in over a decade, it takes just a little bit of time for you to recognize a song. Your brain goes through the gears and by the time they get to the chorus, you are singing along.

As I walked away from a Skid Row concert on Saturday, I found myself thinking about how I could remember some of these songs. They are over 20 years old. But sure enough, I was singing the chorus of Big Guns, Sweet Little Sister, Makin' a Mess, Piece of Me, Mudkicker, and Quicksand Jesus. What part of my brain did I unlock?

I enjoyed the show. A week ago I wouldn't have thought I would be seeing Skid Row. It sure isn't the top of my list of concerts to attend. But with a bit of resurgency in the hair band world, I am glad I could.

Makes me wonder what other bands I hidden in the depths of my noggin. Maybe I should get out the Faster Pussycat or Sleezbeez discs and find out.

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