There’s a lot to be said about the power of music. It has the power to transcend language barriers, the power to uplift the spirit, the power to evoke spontaneous dance, the power to bring people together, the power to stop time, the power to just be.
I’ve loved music my whole life. I have my parents to thank for that, being both music lovers themselves. While I may not have shared my mom’s love of boy bands or my dad’s current love of a certain female Irish singing group, I owe my passion of music to them. It was my mom who introduced me to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album. I used to sit on the floor of our family room with the huge monstrous headphones on listing to it on vinyl. It was my dad who first introduced me to the wonders of the little known psychedelic band It’s A Beautiful Day. On our way to go camping at Lake Laramie, Beav and I would listen to Steppenwolf, Meatloaf, Janis Joplin, and Black Sabbath on tape.
One of the things that first attracted me to Kyle was our congruous, dove-tailing interest in music. Because we have similar tastes, we have enjoyed many great concerts together. Although, Kyle has yet to appreciate my love of all things KISS FM.
This afternoon, I put the band Rusted Root on my playlist. I haven’t listened to them in a very long time. About three songs in, I just got up and started to dance around my tiny little room. It totally made my day. I started to think back and it is uncanny how many of my best memories that I’ve had here have been tied to music.
From meeting an awesome friend (who happens to be a gifted guitar player) for the first time, to my first meeting with my counterpart where she taught me how to dance in her kitchen, from numerous sing-a-longs during camping trips, to learning songs in Romanian, from Mari teaching me the penguin dance, to seeing the band Plus Noi for the first time, from singing karaoke in a smoky Sibiu bar with good friends, to singing “Don’t Stop Believing” with the amazing GLOW campers last year… music is an intrinsic part of my Peace Corps life.
On Friday, we had a small celebration for Mihai Eminescu day. The music teacher invited me along to witness the festivities. It was great, it really was. There were three musical performances, poetry reading, a PowerPoint presentation, and letter reading. It was pretty fantastic. Our students are so talented. The poetry reading was a bit over my language ability, which is a shame. But music is universal. While I may not be able to understand all of Eminescu’s words, the words put to music reach a place beyond language, beyond translation, beyond… Those beautiful words put to melody touch the familiar and reside within the soul. The music I’ve encountered here, whether it be the singing of birds, the strumming of a guitar, the melody of a summer’s rain, the drone of an accordion, or the beautiful harmony of all our voices singing a familiar song around a blazing campfire, it will be this universal language, this universal feeling, this universal voice of joy that I will carry back across the ocean with me nine months from now. It will be this never-ending joyous melody that will reside within my heart forever.
The Kids' Choir
