Music And Happiness

 Music  And Happiness

I grew up with music. Music songs were happy in the 50s and early 60s. The Pat Boones of music was not my kind of music. Black rock and roll made me happy because it had a beat that you could dance to. I was a very good dancer.

When I look back on those times, it puts a smile on my face. When I hear the music of the groups like the Four Tops, The Spinners, The Bus Boys, The Platters, The Drifters, and the Temptations my body has a happy dance. Most of the lyrics if their song were about love and girls. My favorite line from the Temptations was and is, "she makes a blind man talk about see again."

It was rare that the lyrics were political or even negative. The one song I remember (again from the Temptations) was, "papa was a rolling stone." It depicted a life of a poor family where the father was non-existent. The bridge went, "Papa was a rolling stone, wherever he laid his hat was his home and when he died all he left us was alone." 

Back then, if you had a girlfriend, you had a song that was only your and your girlfriend's. Making out to that song and other favorite songs was what you did. Sharing records (the vinyl kind) with friends was fun. 

Some of us would sing some of the songs, as a group, on the street corner. I could do harmony and had a full range that went from bass to falsetto. The kids wanted me in the group. I loved making harmony with my friends.

As you can tell, those days were happy days for me. If you are much younger than I, you probably don't understand the importance of music growing up. Today there are so many distractions that music is just not that important. Back then I didn't have those distractions. 

I'm not saying the younger people don't enjoy their music. What I am saying is that back then, music was part of my sole. So much so, that even if can remember shit (CRS), I could sing five bars of hundreds of the songs I grew up with. Of the millions of reasons I love my Joyce is that she can sing those songs with me. Getting old is not all bad.

I hope this blog hits home with some of you. I hope you have music in your sole. I hope your music reminds you of happy times. If it does, play the ones you love best when life is not going as you would like.

Music And Happiness - What Is It Good For - Absolutely Everything.