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Harula’s GLADvent Calendar Day 7

day-7-music

December 7
Music

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words, and that which cannot remain silent. (Victor Hugo)

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20161207_221301This is one of my favorite Victor Hugo quotes. It is the very reason I wanted to learn to play the piano all my life. But growing up I never had the opportunity to take lessons. When my mom passed away not long after my dad (I was 51), I took some of the money she left me and bought a 1927 upright Kimball piano. Gorgeous thing! I had it refinished (it was black when I bought it for $500) and brought home. I was sooo excited! I wanted to play because I felt like I would finally have an outlet for exactly what Hugo said, to express the feelings I couldn’t put into words but which would not remain silent.

Fast forward two years’ worth of piano lessons later, and I knew I had waited too long. It sucks being a bit of a perfectionist when you’re trying to learn to play an instrument. That’s why it’s MUCH better to learn as a child. And there I was, so flippin’ bull-headed that if I made a mistake in the piece I was playing I insisted on stopping and starting all over again. Needless to say, you can’t learn to play an instrument without screwing up so you’d best learn to get past it and move on. But I couldn’t.

Conan-the-BarbarianSo recorded music ended up being my usual outlet. If I was sad, I listened to sad music. If I was angry, I listened to something angry sounding. If I was feeling creative I usually listened to “Conan the Barbarian!”. 😀 Well you get my drift.

So if I love music all that much, why is it I struggled all day with writing this post for Harula’s GLADvent Calendar? Well, it’s because all of a sudden I’ve found myself at a place in my life where I don’t WANT to listen to music. What I WANT is SILENCE. No, what I NEED is silence. Our house is so small that sound carries like crazy. If I’m not home alone, there is always, ALWAYS a ton of background noise. And for some reason that constant din under everything I’m doing is making me nuts. The truth is, right now I really ENJOY the silence. I find it very healing.

But it IS nearly Christmas, however, so at least for this month I’m listening to a lot of my favorite sounds of the season. The Bar-J Wranglers, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, and a lot of albums of Christmas hymns — especially love Michael Crawford’s Christmas album. So I guess in the long run music is a part of my life again for the moment. And who knows… Come January I may feel totally different about it. I’m weird that way!

Here’s one of my favorite Christmas videos! It’s Will Ferrell and John C. Riley spoofing one of my favorite Christmas duets by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. How’s THAT for being musically eclectic?

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They did such an amazing job! But if you want to see the original, here it is as well… (There’s about 10 seconds of Crosby foolin’ around on the first of this one for some reason!)

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As a side note, Bowie and Crosby nearly didn’t sing this duet as David Bowie HATED the song. For the “behind the scenes” story go HERE! I did a post on it last year…

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Picture Sources:
Stocking — Harula
Piano — personal
Conan — The Serious Work Of Play – WordPress.com