Music

Music is the heart of life. It's actually more than that. It's the spirit and soul. It gives life to life. Your heart could be beating, but it doesn't mean you're truly living or alive. In the literal sense, sure, but without a spirit or soul, you are truly dead. It's that essence to life that makes you who you are and brings real life to your bones, muscles and all those crazy systems in your body.
Music combined with dance is the ultimate experience. It moves me like nothing else. I can hardly contain the emotions and feelings inside me when I see a beautifully moving dance, accompanied by THE perfect song. Without it, dance is just a bunch of random movements.
My favorite type of music is what I call acoustic-folksy-indie-singer/songwriter genre. Artists like Joshua Radin, Ingrid Michaelson, Good Old War. Songs that have that acoustic guitar in the foreground, and maybe a solo drum of some kind. I like Bling Pilot's The story I heard, and Brandi Carlise's The Story. I like songs that evoke emotions and feelings and tell us a story in a non-country way. I don't want just sad feelings evoked. Happy go lucky ones are needed too. I love Grouplove's Tongue tied and Phoenix's Lisztomania, and of course OneRepublic's Good life. Of which I love to shout out in my car the line- "...to Colorado." Simply because I lived there and love that state to the ends of the earth.
Sometimes covers are better than the original artist. I can think of a ton done by the Glee cast, in which I had previously hated, when sung by the original artist, but now love because they sang it just right. Also Walk off the Earth's Somebody I used to know, is the first version I ever heard, and I think much better than the artist that wrote it/recorded it. Another example is Obadiah Parker's cover of "Hey ya." If you haven't heard it, you must. It's a much slower and more meaningful version of OutKast's song.
Some songs just have to be upbeat to make them fun. It doesn't even matter the lyrics, like Of Monsters and Men's Little Talks, or Foster the People's Pumped up kicks. A song can be a sweet, slow tune, meant to lull you into a peacful haze...until you actually listen to the words, like in Sara Bareilles' Sweet as Whole. A song has never made me laugh harder. I don't drink, but I wanted to go down to a pub with a tall brewski and sing this with all my compadres as we clinked glasses.  Please youtube to see what I'm talking about. You will not regret it. Unless cussing offends you...then don't look it up, because this song is f-ing lousy with them.
Bands like Coldplay and Mumford and Sons, will never let you down. They will always be awesome. No matter how old you are. Garden State is the best soundtrack of all time, and I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons I love the movie Away we Go, is because of Alexi Murdoch's unique voice. It's like a sexy Kermit the Frog. It's like he's just talking, but not. I love distinct voices like that. When there's no question who it is.
But enough ABOUT music. I love it because of how I feel when I listen to it. It can calm me in traffic, if I focus and hone in on Joshua Radin's perfect voice, it lulls me into complete peace. Music can get me to get up off the couch and dance, especially when the Glee kids are doing it. It mellows me, it pumps me up, it centers me and it puts me in a place that nothing else can- where I feel that everything is perfect in the world, even though it isn't.  In a way, it is my companion. It is my partner, my love, my best friend. Jason Mraz said on Storytellers "I've used song as my companion. It's been my best friend in my time of need." Well put Jason. But you know what the best music is sometimes? What's going on outside my window right now. RAIN. A gentle rain, not too loud, not too soft...just right. And isn't that what we all want? Just right...