Hello all, I hope my latest ‘Is It Me?’ finds you in good health and in some sort of normality.
I’m again trying to avoid writing anything too coronavirus-y as I think we’ve had just about as much as we can take on that front. If you’ll forgive me I will, however, write about something which is loosely Covid-related.
A little while ago I wrote a piece about how my father’s music had influenced my own musical tastes and choices. How trips in the car listening to his tapes had stayed with me and how certain songs make me think of him and those days when I was younger.
Music is a funny thing isn’t it? The way it touches us, takes us on a journey, lifts us when we need it to, or allows us to wallow with it when the going gets tough. Last week one of my kids mentioned that I’d been listening to softer, sadder music than my usual go-to sounds. I hadn’t really thought about it but he was spot on. Gone were my usually loud, heavily guitar-based tunes which my family often describe as noise rather than music, replaced with much slower, sombre and gentler numbers.
Pixies, Chili Peppers, AC/DC and Dropkick Murphys had all but disappeared from my recent playlists. Further inspection revealed that in their place are old classics like REM’s ‘Nightswimming’, ‘Wires’ by Athlete, Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and Juice Newton’s ‘Angel of the Morning’.
It’s interesting because I hadn’t actively thought about taking such a change of direction. There was obviously something in my bones which made me want to switch. I’ve been thinking about it and I’m coming to the conclusion that all this Covid business, with isolation, lockdowns, fear, information and misinformation, has got under my skin. I like to think of myself as a fairly resilient person, usually glass half full and always happy to crack a (usually awful) joke. My change in music choices over the last few weeks are an indication that I’m reacting to the current crisis and that it’s obviously on my mind – even when it isn’t.
That got me thinking. If it’s getting to me, it must be getting to others and I suspect there are legions of people who are really struggling – it could be health, finance, loneliness…the list goes on. Mental health and physical wellbeing are so important, now more than ever, so I suppose all I really wanted to say is that we should all be making an effort to be as kind and as helpful as we can be at the moment. Let’s do our best to look out for each other.
On that note I’m now going to have a little think about what to play next. If I select something that’s loud, sing-along-able, annoying and irritates my children then I’ll know I’m back on track. Please feel free to share some suggestions. Bon Jovi anyone?! ‘WHOA, WE’RE HALFWAY THERE…….’
To read the article on The Business Exchange, please click here.
