After I said good-bye to Bryan as he turned around and reboarded the ferry back to Victoria, I put in my music which I figured should be Matthew Good's new album called "Vancouver". I felt it was appropriate. Besides, I hadn't really listened to the album too much since I bought it and if I were to listen to an album on repeat, this only made sense. I really liked it. Many of the songs I enjoy like "Last Parade", "The Boy Who Could Explode", "Us Remains Impossible" and "Fought to Fight It". It's interesting to travel into the city listening to an album about it through the lens of someone else. You start to get a sense of what he sees in it.
It's funny, I haven't really listened to an album straight through too often since I first bought an iPod. I mean there have been exceptions like when I bought "Backspacer" or Nirvana's "Live at Reading" or Good's previous album "Hospital Music". I usually don't buy a lot of albums any more usually because I don't want to risk money on songs I don't know. Before digital media came along, you never really had that option, but here we are.
The whole experience reminds me of when I was in high school when I came to Winnipeg for one of the first times in my life to do work experience at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People and all I had for a CD with me was Collective Soul's self-titled album. I listened to that on repeat for the whole week. I remember how the song "Smashing Young Man" was my inspiration and how many of the other songs resonated with me at that time.
One of the first albums I was ever given was a Jars of Clay CD and I don't remember which one, but I think I may have liked one song off of it and that was all. Meanwhile, one of my friends gave me (by throwing it at my head) Green Day's "Dookie" and since it was free, I listened to it. I had never heard anything that talked about something different than happy go lucky Jesus and this spoke to things I identified with. I mean, now, I'm not in that place anymore, but at the time, it was eye-opening.
Christian music has rarely impacted me as much as secular music, although one could easily argue that Collective Soul's music is pretty consistently spiritual, it is never overtly a specific religion. I find a lot of Christian music to be fairly one-dimensional. Maybe occasionally two-dimensional. It always feels a little ... shallow? Is that what I want to say? I suppose that is my problem with always coming from a Christian perspective. Everything feels a little white-washed and shiny. That it never admits the full range of human experience.
It seems to me that to have a full understanding of what it means to be human, you have to see the other side. You get to see it when you spend time with the homeless or the poor or the forgotten. You get to see it when you see someone face the dark shadows of life without some hope in a loving God. It is the same thing as how people that dwell in the dark matter have to listen to something positive in order to get a better understanding.
For me, I see it when I listen to music. These artists are sharing their more intimate thoughts in song form. I like music for that reason and specifically lyrics. There are words, but they are poetic. They convey a feeling versus other literature that usually explain everything. Music has a simple way of expressing the heart of the artist while still presenting words which I can somewhat follow. I don't necessarily agree with the artist, but I can identify with them and understand my world a little better and where other people come from.
I've had other many experiences and good conversations along the way, but this was the first one to be written on the screen. I gotta go crash now so I can go explore tomorrow.
"On a night like tonight
When no ones around
I sit in the dark on my hands on the ground
And I smile like the devil smiles
Unseen but proud
Truth be told I don't know who's at the helm
Just sit tight
I'll make my way to you"
- "On Nights Like Tonight" from Matthew Good's album "Vancouver"
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