(Photos courtesy of Jeremy Hohengarten)
As I was sitting, enjoying, and listening I got to thinking and questioning. Why does music stir our spirits so incredibly much? Isn't Music just random sound waves flying through the air that follow patterns of vibration resonating with other waves that are faster or slower? Isn't music pretty much just the by-product of things hitting other things? Like a guitar pic hitting the strings or a piano hitting its chords? Who made the rules for this invisible structure of sound waves? Why does it even exist? Why can it pull at my soul like its typing on specific inner buttons intrinsic to all humans. Its like we all have a gears inside of us that can only be powered up and turned when music has awoken them. What is the purpose of this biological response to these invisible matter-less sound waves? And what does their existence imply about life and reality? Music is such a mystery to me.
The songs that were preformed last night told stories of people and characters that were in life moments so epic and profound that endless poetry, literature, and artwork could not fully depict the depth of imagination, emotion, and discourse that was sung about. The only describable way to explain it is by calling it indescribable.
One song told the story of an astronaut husband who was trapped in orbit around Earth and kept alive by his space suit. Josh sang of the mans deep longing to see his wife in the midst of his everlasting state of limbo. Every-time the astronauts orbit passed over North America, specifically California the man would remember his beloved. As his hair grew in front of his face and his will to live faded away his loneliness grew exponentially as the days, months, and years passed by like leaves falling from a tree in the fall. After Josh made the case for the astronaut Erin sung of the women left to her lonesome back home on Earth. If this sounds trite hear me out, the pure raw love belted out in this symphony of acoustic guitar and vocals immersed the audience in a tidal wave of the couples depravity. As Josh and Erin played they brought the astronaut and his wife to life in my heart in a very sincere way. I've only experienced this kind shared emotion through music. And this it my question: Why can some things only be communicated in song?
To me music speaks about the mystery of the eternal, the divine, and the spiritual pursuit. I can think of no other explanation of why music exists other than to give us a language and form of expression from which to communicate the things that are impossible to communicate. I get excited when I hear Heaven described as a place of endless song because to me the most grand and honest moments in life are when I'm captivated by the emotion and revelation of a reality that my soul can only understand in song. Every human being has a sense of real emotions, like the death of a loved one, the joy of a newborn child, and the awe of standing before nature. In my experience I can never do those emotions justice when I'm attempting to verbally communicate them to another. When I try to describe the feelings I've felt when I lost a loved one I've always fallen short. Its like trying to detail for some one the vastness of an ocean when all you have is a cup of water. My everyday language skills are stunted and frustrated when it comes to describing the truths inside my heart of hearts. I think that's where music comes into play. The emotion of certain songs seems to scratch away some the veneer of our souls. Music is a language and its a mystery. I'm beyond thankful to have the privilege of knowing some amazing musicians who can carry me away on the vessel of their art and to have had the experience that I had last night, an inspiring and spiritual session of pure art.
Take time to enjoy and ponder the mystery of music. Ponder the mystery of why certain words put to a certain chords bring joy, reverence, or sentiment. Enjoy the illogical response your body has when a song breaks into the chorus because the things that are being evoked in your soul go beyond words and can awaken the eternal within, the part of humanity than can only be explained as spirituality.
If you want to check out Ivory Owl go here: www.myspace.com/ivoryowlmusic
