The Power of Music
I just watched a YouTube clip that actually caused me to have a physical reaction. The hair on my arms started to stand up. I was being physically moved by a virtual intangible. I started to wonder about this.
Actually, I'm not so sure it was the video, but the circumstances of the event, and more importantly the music that caused me to have a physical reaction.
Is it possible, that something as intangible as a sound can actually cause someone to react physically to it's very presence?
I think so. I've often said "nothing moves me like music", except maybe a woman. But you can hold a woman. Music is something (to me anyway) that pretty intangible. You can hear it. But...
You can't see it.
You can't touch it.
Yet it can cause a physical reaction. This amazes me, I don't know why, it just does.
The video in question (after the jump) is the performace of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" at the O2 Arena in London during Roger Waters' "The Wall" tour on May 12, 2011. I guess what made this particular performance special to me is that it is the song "Comfortably Numb" which IMHO has one of the great guitar solos of all time (did I mention that I've been playing guitar since I was 8?) and more importantly, the solo was played by the original purveyor of said solo - David Gilmour. And he hasn't been with Roger Waters as Pink Floyd (except for a single performance a couple of years back) for quite some time so I'm sure that was a component as well.
David Gilmour has been a HUGE influence on me musically and more importantly, my playing. I know artists aren't supposed to do this, but if you listen to my 2001 album "The Apostle of Reality" (available on Itunes, CD Baby and every other digital download site) there is a tune called "The Fire Won".
I was having a terrible time finishing this tune. I wanted it to have an "epic" ending.
And then I heard "Comfortably Numb" on the radio, more importantly, that glorious guitar solo., The idea hit me, "Do YOUR take on that solo". So I did. I didn't rip it off. Actually, it sounds nothing like it, but I wanted to capture that vibe in the solo. A feeling of release.
DOES music move you?