Vaka
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 10:36PM 
Something I underestimate often is the power of music to make me feel things. I’m not talking lyrically, which is perhaps why I underestimate it: I’m used to being moved by words, but somehow the impact of a crescendo of violins or the sudden thud of a drum is surprising. I am listening to Sigur Rós a lot at the moment, mostly because I can’t understand the words and I need to not have words when I’m writing. The very first track of () always surprises me with a creeping sadness which I feel somewhere beneath my shoulders. It’s an eerie kind of a track with long, wavering notes and a plodding piano. It makes me feel very sad for a few minutes before it speeds up a little and swells with a determination that makes me want to type faster: perfect writing music!
I’m very familiar with the idea of associating music with particular events or feelings. If I want to wallow in nostalgia, there are certain CDs that are guaranteed to do it for me every time. If I’m feeling sad, I know what to listen to to really make the most of that feeling. If I’m feeling angry, there are CDs that I know will provide me with a satisfying dose of stormy music. But I never remember that something I don’t have any emotional attachment to (besides in the fact that I like it a lot) can spark in me such strong feelings.
So I leave you with the video to my favourite track of the moment, which I must say, wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I’ve never thought to look for a Sigur Rós video before… I think I imagined there’d be more blueness and swirling than this.
Edit: It has been brought to my attention that I insinuated that there were words to be understood in this track although I can't understand them myself. That, indeed, is what I thought, Sigur Rós being an Icelandic band with other records written in Icelandic. But I stand corrected: the vocals are in Hopelandic, which is an invented language with neither grammar nor vocabulary. In fact, it's not so much language as noise. So it's no wonder that I can't understand it!
Image borrowed from Sigur Rós
Reader Comments (6)
This reminds me of my nightly staring match with Smudge as she wills me to stop brushing my teeth and fill the sink with drinking water instead. There's something about that stare that speaks to a different state of consciousness.
I like the idea of something speaking to you in a different state of consciousness. Who's Smudge? I'm imagining a cat, but I don't remember you mentioning one.
You'll notice I took the writing down, by the way. I posted it because I felt like I needed to post something and, not really having anything in the pipeline, I decided to post something I knew wasn't finished to see how it went down. And then I realised that was a bad idea and pasted something totally different over the top of it! One day my impulsiveness will land me in some real kind of bother!
I very much enjoyed the song. The video was good too. A bit dark, but I found myself wanting to watch it over again.
It is amazing how music can make you feel things. It's one of my favorite things about life.
I've never been able to write with music playing. I can listen to music and it will inspire me to write, but then I have to turn it down once I begin. Though I've never thought of trying to write to classical. That might actually work. No words to distract me or beg me to sing along to them :)
I found that too - the wanting to watch it again, I mean.
I can't write to anything with lyrics (that I understand!) for exactly that reason. There are times when it can work, but they're rare. But I write well with something instrumental going in the background, although I have to be careful that the mood of it goes with what I'm writing: magpie to the last, I find I steal the mood of whatever I'm listening to if I'm not careful!
I find that most of the big events in my life have a song that accompany them in my memory.
I once talked with a friend or two about making a mixed CD with the soundtrack of my life. I'd still like to do that.
That sounds like a great project. Hmmm... I wonder what I'd put on mine...
Dave has a soundtrack planned for his funeral! I don't know if I'd advise going that far though... heaven help me if he dies first!