Music is such a crazy, magical thing. I watched August Rush tonight for the second or third time, and while I admit it's a totally unrealistic and fairly cheesy movie, I still enjoy it. There's a scene when Freddie Highmore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers meet in Washington Square Park and play guitar together, not realizing they are related. Freddie, as August/Evan, tells Louis (Meyers) about the concert he's meant to perform at and that he can't attend because something bad will happen. Louis says to him, "You never quit on your music. No matter what happens. Cuz anytime something bad happens to you, that's the one place you can escape to and just let it go." Though it's been said many times before, and perhaps with a bit more eloquence, Louis has got the right idea.
Music is one of the few things that almost always helps pull me out of a bad mood. Maybe not every single time, but it helps more consistently than anything else does. Music is the ultimate distraction, and probably the healthiest. When you have a heavy heart or a clouded mind, music can clear that up. You focus on the notes and chords and vocals and lyrics, and you forget whatever problems might be plaguing you, at least for the length of a song or album or live set. It offers the easiest escape without even having to leave wherever you are. Music will never let you down the way people can.
I've often wished I knew more about the theory of music - the keys and scales and all the things you're supposed to learn first. I know a handful of chords, and small parts of various songs that I like, and I can hold a tune pretty well, but I'm no musical prodigy. When I see movies like this, or meet people who have a true talent, it always makes me want to play more. People that can create music have such a beautiful thing going for them. Not only are you putting a part of yourself into some song, but you're creating the very escape that people are searching for when they listen to music. Maybe that's why people are so in love with certain bands, because they have so much appreciation for whatever that group's music has been able to help them through.
In the movie Almost Famous, Fairuza Balk's character complains to Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) about the tour's latest groupies and says, "They don't even know what it is to be a fan. Y'know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts." And that's exactly what it is- loving that band or that piece of music because it's the one thing you can turn to when no other answers are in sight. You can always turn to music.
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