Songs that changed your life

Well, Matt's "Books that changed your life" thread just got me an idea. Since Music has altered my life in a much more drastical way than books, I figured I'd start this thread.

Some sonds that always get me thinking about the life I live and whether I'm doing things right are:

Redemption Song - Bob Marley

Hey You - Pink Floyd

and

My Father's Eyes - Eric Clapton

All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix also really motivated me to learn how to play the guitar.

And, I'm not gonna lie, songs like "Suicidal Thoughts" by Notorious BIG or "Ghetto Gospel" by 2Pac really motivate me to keep my head up in school and give me the drive I need to get to where I want to be.

I can't really say if there was one that changed anything. I view music as entertainment and I don't put any stock into what I hear other than liking it. What I mean is, there's many songs in my collection of cd's (over 800 discs) that are left wing in nature as far as lyrics go (anti-war for example). I pay no attention to the lyrics for the most part. Same goes for anything I own that preaches a conservative point of view. I own a few cd's that are satanic in nature. I listen because I like the song, not what they're saying.

I have to agree with you Tex. I couldn't point to a single song that changed my life.

However, I can point to a orchestral composer who didn't so much change my life as he completely altered my understanding and appreciation of music with a very simple statement. This was back in the early 70's.

I think I had asked him if he liked jazz or something like that (jazz was my favorite genre back then) and he replied that there was probably no genre of music he didn't like. He followed that with this statement - "The more you like music, the more music you'll like."

All these years later I find this to be one of the truest statements ever uttered on the subject.

I wonder if he likes speed metal.

Seriously, that type of music made me appreciate heavy metal even more because much of the speed metal genre is pretty technical in the way the music is played. Most people call it noise but if they actually dissected the music, they'd be amazed at the stuff being done.

Carlos Santana said once that playing slow allows you to take in the music much more. It's like a good glass of wine; you don't gulp it all down, you sip it slowly to maximize the enjoyment you get out of it. Thoughts?

BubbleBliss wrote:
Carlos Santana said once that playing slow allows you to take in the music much more. It's like a good glass of wine; you don't gulp it all down, you sip it slowly to maximize the enjoyment you get out of it. Thoughts?

Depends on the mood. I like progressive metal (Opeth, Rush, Dream Theater) for my "mellow" moods. I like Slayer and Megadeth (for example) for my wound up moods. Some Black Sabbath does me good, too. Most of their old stuff is slow.

Then again, if I really want to be mellow, I listen to Genesis.

Greg Lake - I believe in Father Christmas.

This song is held up as the quintessential Christmas song for atheists. He claims it was never intended to be such, but that is certainly what I read into it when I first heard the lyrics at a time I was losing my (what was already very thin) belief in divine power and the existence of any god.

Though it didn't shape my atheist philosophy, I do see the lyrics as very much an important expression of how I mark Christmas every year. Basically, it is about seeing through the veneer, the religion and the commercialism and accepting it for what it is. He is saying 'mark it however you please. Reflect on the good and bad times and relax' and finishes off with Hallelujah, Noel! Be it heaven or hell, the Christmas we get we deserve