My Music

Some people would tell you that I don’t like music because I complain a lot when someone leaves a radio on all day long. I’m just not into listening to the jingle of the day, everyday. That is not my taste. Music, for me, is a trigger that pinpoints and unleashes the power of my mind. My appreciation of it, knows no restrictions.



Listening to Handel’s Messiah; the Holy City; and of course, the very beautiful Ava Maria make my Christmases complete. I couldn’t perceive Christmas without them. Likewise, the playing of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite brings to my mind the very essence of the sweetness of springtime and new life, in keeping with our celebration of Easter.

I remember that every Sunday morning, a stunning rendition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue resonated from the old pipe organ at my English church; a musical masterpiece that even today has the power to chill my spine and turn every hair on my back brittle - as if insulted by electric shock. What magnificent power these brilliant composers could wield. They were true geniuses.

I’m sure that every reader must have heard of “Lorena”, a short and seemingly melancholy piece of music from the American Civil war. However, it carried such power that some Confederate Generals banned it’s playing, singing, or even humming by troopers, under penalty of death. That charming violin solo was blamed for stirring the emotions of defeated and exhausted soldiers into yearning for their families and loved ones - causing them to desert in droves. Listen to Lorena and you’ll know why.

Nothing compares to the poverty, the despair, and the plight of the underprivileged as Johnny Cash’s “Man In Black”. Or, the picture he paints of the Iwo Jima hero, Ira Hayes. Ira was a Pima Indian who lost his life-long struggle against alcoholism after returning home from the war. Johnny tells the story well in the “Ballad of Ira Hayes”. It took me a while, but I developed a great respect for the late Johnny Cash. His music portrays the darker side of life in real and vivid terms. I believe he cared deeply for the less fortunate.

One musician, however, stands alone. I feel as close to him as if he were my brother. He’s my fellow countryman, the late John Lennon. His music changed the world. His life, his death and his music stripped us all naked and exposed our vulnerabilities to the rest of humanity. He is the only person, or at least, one of the very few, that had the power to make the whole world stand still for a full two minutes. I will always remember him.

So can you. Just whisper, quietly, to yourself…”Let it be”.