When I went home last year in the Philippines I found out that the cassette tapes of my favorite musicians that I used to collect from college out from hard-earned money were deteriorating. I can't even play them anymore because most of them are already infected with dust fungus. I was miserable to say the least, because most of these songs were part of the most memorable days of my college life. I was not really concerned that I cannot play the music anymore. I was more attached to the sentimental value that my collection holds. This collection was as varied as my mood. They range from classics such as America, the Eagles, and the Beatles, to metal (Poison, Megadeth, Slaughter, Metallica, etc.) to Grunge music (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound garden, Verve Pipe), to Punk ( U2, Duran Duran, Greenday), and even mellow music like Barry Manilow, Jose Mari Chan and Tommy Paige. Though the rock albums far outnumbered the mellow/ pop ones.
I remember that back then, I get criticism from older folks about my choice of music. And I used to laugh a lot when I hear these crap from people. I can't understand why they like branding rock music as the "Devils Music". And Mellow gospel and pop music has always been the goodie oldie-friendly tunes. It makes me sad to know that people judge music by its loudness or the costumes performers wear. I agree that there has always been a strong relationship between music and religion. Maybe it is because they both plug directly into the heart and can have real power for good or evil. But saying that it is an evil deed to listen to rock 'n roll or headbanging to metal and grunge band is insane! Music is beautiful. And it is irrelevant or even unfair to classify music in lieu to one's religion or being typecasted as being an evil sound just because it's loud and it has guitar riffs that echoes. We have to face the fact that good music is good no matter what kind of music it is. I mean, there is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music. People are people. And like any ordinary person, we dream, we cry, we laugh and we feel things like love, hate, joy, pain, and so on. And being in the moment of these feelings, we need something to capture that feeling. To bookmark it in a compartment in our brain and recall it whenever we need it to. We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration and religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it. Like me, I can still remember the days that I was doing graveyard shifts with my design plates-- and this is further amplified in our memories when we hear music that was played on during those times, or albums of musicians you used to pound the boombox with while drawing dusk till dawn. Music is like an instant recollection- activator. And we always associate it with the highest and lowest moments in our lives. So irregardless of what kind of music it is, as long as it hit you straight in the heart, be with it. Screw the hypocrites. Rock music is good music. And never will I resign to the idea that it is the music of the devil. For heaven's sake, I wont let the devil have all the fun!
