Words and Music

Music affects me like nothing else. It captivates my soul and communicates to me in a unique and almost direct way that almost no other medium can. It's a soul to soul communication. Music is beautiful to me. For that, I have no qualms enjoying music from diverse genres. I readily admit my atheism and in the same sentence will admit to loving the music produced by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I love Gregorian chants and many kinds of religious-themed music (but not all, mind you). Anything that catches my ear and that I can relate to, I want it.

I choose this video first because it expresses my views of atheism so clearly. Atheism to me means freedom. The freedom to explore my morals and to accept and find the most that most benefit me and help to assist in making a better American society. Some of those morals or standards include honesty, integrity, empathy, and a love for the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. I do not ask anyone to agree with my perception. Just watch it and move on.

I love this song. The lack of worry, fear, or self-loathing is what attracts me to this song. We should celebrate love (straight AND gay)! I will never know the joy she feels in kissing a girl but I can relate in the joy of kissing a guy, ha ha! I can appreciate how she feels in it. That joy of just living life and realizing that you are fine and that you are happy is such a wonderful feeling. This is a song I listen to on my down days!

This song moves me in a way that I cannot fully express. Honestly, when I hear this song, it takes me back to the book "And the Band Played On" (about the AIDS epidemic). The desire to live your life with dignity is something I can relate to. I have watched so many of my friends struggle with loving themselves (gay and straight). The want to accept themselves is both powerful and elusive. How many of us have looked in the mirror and wished we were somebody else? How many of us have wished we could just not be us? This song reminds me of all those feelings and the promise to transcend them. And please note that in the song that the word "we" is used a lot in it. You and me, we were social creatures, not solitary beings. I am here for you.

I used to listen to this song on my mission nearly every day. I still love it very much. When I hear this song it reminds me of cold winter days and warm spring mornings. I think of rain and I think of the ideal home. If I were to ever be allowed to choose the kind of faith people should exemplify, it would be summed up in this song. It is beautiful in so many ways.

This song needs no explanation, lol!

Yes. Glee. Get over it. The song is beautiful and wonderful.

What can be said after all of this fantastic music and thoughts? Well, nothing, I guess. So I will leave with pictures.