How important is music to you? And what do you "use" music for?

Off-Topic Chat
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Like many, I always liked music, listened to it a lot, like back in school, high school and college.

I was slow to really get into the meanings of songs, some backstory’s etc.

Going through my divorce I really turned in more to music in a way.

In many ways I was a late bloomer in terms of doing that. But ever since then, I have songs I listen to based upon how I’m feeling, if I’m happy, down, sad etc.

And while younger, I didn’t appreciate music’s ability to transport me back in time. Once I became older, it really hit me how listening to music from decades ago could transport me back in time like a Time Machine to where I was at in my life mentally, what I was doing, where I was at physically on this planet, like which city and state I was living in etc.

For quite a while now, but not when I was younger, I intentionally use music to help me with my moods, when I’m feeling down etc.

I know music is important to many, including many on the forum. I’m sure many “use” music too for various reasons and I’m curious about what some of those reasons are.

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Don’t know who I’d be without music, I don’t have a specific genre I go to, like a bit of everything. If I remembered information like i did song lyrics I’d be in a far better position academically and career wise.

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I’m glad it helps you.

Some folks use music to help them express themselves with others and on and on.

With so many folks out there in the world, there are many different ways folks “use” music in their lives.

I’m hoping to hear of other ways folks use music so I may “steal” some of them and incorporate that into my life to help me.

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Lifelong music fan, my mum always had the radio on when I was a child and The Beatles were a love of hers, especially Paul McCartney. I was handed down a load of 60’s singles from my aunts around 1972 along with a Dansette record player. So I was steeped in The Beatles, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, The Searchers etc, around that time Glam was the thing to listen to and for Christmas us 3 kids shared a cassette player/recorder between us. My dad had a huge Grundig radio and I connected it to the cassette to tape my favourite chart hits, one Christmas i had a small transistor radio that I used to listen to in bed via the single ear earpiece, Radio Luxembourg, Radio One etc. For birthday and Christmas i would ask for money to buy singles and albums. Then as a teenager I got an after school/Saturday job in a butchers and I bought myself an Amstrad hi-fi tower through my mum’s catalogue and began buying singles and albums with my own money. Around that time I was getting into rock, metal, punk, synthetic pop, prog and new wave, and began going to gigs. In 1986 I did a competition in the pub that was on a beer mat and required buying a bottle of Lamot Pils to enter, and won a cd hi-fi system. Which is how 40 years later I have a huge cd collection!

I literally can’t go a day without listening to music, either in the car, on the radio, YouTube, my phone etc.

If I go on holiday I always pack a Bluetooth speaker and earbuds to play music via my phone, and my numerous car usb sticks!

It keeps me sane and lifts my mood on a daily basis, this last year has been particularly difficult for me for various reasons, but immersion in music has helped me cope, even in my darkest days.

I listen in various ways, in the background whilst doing chores or chilling, whilst driving to help me concentrate, to sing along to, or to lie back close my eyes and really listen to the production and construction of a particular song.

I am very into surround sound mixes and these really do reveal hidden detail previously buried in the stereo mix.

Music is also a time machine to me, and I can re-live special memories when I listen. I often listen to stuff on shuffle so a random track may pop up and send me years back stirring memories and emotions from decades ago.

I am generally a pretty quiet, shy person in real life, but i can talk to complete strangers for hours when it comes to music!

I really am an anorak when it comes to music and my head is full of music related trivia, as forum members have probably noticed! :joy:

I know a huge amount in general about music, but rock is my speciality!

I subscribe to a couple of rock/prog magazines and love a music biography to read.

Started going to gigs nearly 50 years ago and seem most of the major bands numerous times, and many before they became huge!

That just about sums up my life as a music lover! :sign_of_the_horns:

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Thank you for your reply. Phil Collins was wrong when he said there was No Reply At All:)

Many things struck me while reading your response but one thing that really stuck out is that you were like this from a young age on and it never waned, it remained, and likely grew (your love of music I mean).

You saved and spent money as a youth on music and that’s impressive. I was buying rockets to shoot up in the air and baseball cards and such as a youth, not singles, albums or music equipment.

And then seeing so many different bands in concert is impressive too.

I’m sorry the past year or so has been such a difficult time for you. I’m happy music has b been able to be a help for you during your time of struggle.

While I do really like music, I can go several days without listening to any though. Why? How? It’s not because I don’t like it or want to listen to it, it’s that my mind gets going on other issues and I simply don’t think about turning music on. But I’m that way about other things too. I will be busy with things, my mind engaged and I forget to eat. I’m the type of person who is able to sit down to read and then all of a sudden it’s 4 or 5 hours later and I’ve been reading that entire time and I had no idea how long it had been. I would swear it had only been 45 mins or an hour.

When I’m like that, I simply don’t think of turning music on even though it would be great if it were playing.

Long ago several of my therapists advised me to journal, which I’d never done. Eventually I took them up and I have a few documents that are now well over 1,000 pages and many more that are several hundred each. Now, this is almost 30 years worth of journaling and writing about things in my life. It’s not like I wrote that much in a year or so.

I use writing about things, about my life as a way to cope so often.

And you didn’t just buy equipment, records and go to concerts, you also care enough and are interested enough to learn about many details and trivia and I think that’s a wonderful thing.

I don’t care that it’s music that is like this for you, it could be other things, but I’m just happy that you and others have such things in your lives that give you such joy and have for decades and decades.

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I did other kid things too, like collect comics etc, it’s just that I got the music bug. My siblings aren’t as obsessed as I am, although my brother is into rock too. I was able to go to so many gigs because they were relatively cheap in those days. £2.50-£5 to see the likes of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard etc throughout the 80’s. So at one point I was seeing 2 or 3 gigs a week, plus i live in a sweetspot for gigs having varying sized venues quite near. Saw Bon Jovi at the local football stadium and got the bus as it was so near!

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Absolutely essential.

There isn’t a day goes by without me picking up a guitar and playing for an hour or two.

I do 3 or 4 open mic sessions every week.

A couple of years back I started to develop trigger finger in both hands and I was devastated thinking that I wouldn’t be able to play any more, but fortunately it is progressing very slowly so I can live with it.

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Music is very important to me.I use it to relax and make the crazy shit in my brain fade into the background. I used to have a lot of audio equipment, most is gone now. My hearing is poor so I do not hear every nuance in the songs, but still enjoy it. One aspect of music it that it ties us to our past. Certain songs will bring joy and others make me more somber, depending on what was happening at the time it was popular. It can be quite emotional to hear some songs that bring me back to the very dark days.

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I don’t use music in the bedroom, but I use music to keep my focus whilst I do other tasks. If I’ve got to do the washing up, I’ll put on some music, and if I have to do lots of data bits at work, I’ll have some lofi music going or if I’m on the train, something I know well to just chill after or before work.

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My father was a disco dance teacher, so I’ve never not known music. The funniest part is later in life he started playing some of the songs of my generation :joy:

I often compare myself to Bumblebee from Transformers; I basically communicate in music. I generally struggle to communicate emotions like love but when I heard ELO’s “Strange Magic” in the movie, Strange Magic, it was such a relief. For me it was like “yes, that. That’s it.”

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I figured ya did other things too.

And yes to those nice low prices back then. I was born in the 60’s, in high school in the early 80’s and life was great in terms of costs, prices etc. be it for concerts or anything else really.

I’ve not been to all that many concerts. It’s a low enough amount that I honestly have some regrets at not seeing more of them.

It sure sounds as if many wonderful times at concerts, I’m glad.

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Very happy to hear it’s progressing so you’re able to live with it. I hope you’re able to play for many more years.

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I understand well about the emotions of songs from the past, both good and bad. Thankfully I have many that bring about good memories but when hearing ones that evoke painful memories, it’s difficult. Even if you turn it off, your mind is still off to the races… well mine is always, I may not speak for you of course.

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Now that made me smile…

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Glad it helps you to get things done.

Today, music is possible to have and take with us anywhere so that works out well for you when you need to do things.

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Absolutely, you can’t beat the emotional experience of a good live show.

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Absolutely. Even back when it wasn’t as portable as it is now, I had CD players that I carried around and the iPod mini that clipped on etc.

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I agree with you. I also like different size venues to change things up.

Long ago I/we saw All-4-One in a small venue that could only seat 1,200 people and it was a nice brand new facility that was part of a major college. The whole experience in there was really nice.

I/we both really liked that band. Years later we saw them in a really small event. It wasn’t a music event, it was a huge auction, both live and silent in a large city we lived in.

Those putting that on also served an amazing breakfast for those who came to this auction and they also brought the band All-4-One in. They had to fly two thirds of the way across the U.S. to get to where this was. They only did like 5 songs.

But what was neat was that they hung out afterwards, ate some food and talked to folks who wanted to talk to them, which my 1st wife and I did.

We told them we saw them several years before in such and such venue. They remembered doing that show.

And I’m a sucker for some good acapella, which they do for some songs and they sound amazing, to me anyway.

Huge venues are nice too, in their own way as are outside venues.

I saw Genesis inside an old NFL football stadium that no longer exists, it had a bubble roof as it was air supported, literally. I’m mentioning this concert because Genesis tailored their light show for that venue where many of the lights and lasers were able to be seen up on the inside of the roof so you’d sit back, listen to the tunes and look up to the roof to see the neat light show going on while the music was playing.

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What a nice topic, I have enjoyed reading the replies so far, thanks everyone.

To me it is so complicated (of course) that will have to think of a coherent response before blabbering away.

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Thanks Simon.

I peruse the music threads some and I see folks like @WillC , @wildflower and @Stacy2 on there a lot and sometimes there are some comments from them.

While looking at the what music are you listening now thread this morning, I responded to WillC about a song and the idea came to my mind to make this thread and being honest, it’s due to the three folks I mentioned above mostly as they are all “hardcore” users of the “What music are you listening to right now?” thread.

I know music is important to them just from their involvement in that thread so much and that got me to wondering about others on here, and what they might use music for.

So I give credit to this thread to the 3 folks above.

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