“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
Aldous Huxley
In less than five minutes, it is possible for the direction of one’s life to change. There are a few times in one’s life that are critical points and at these points, it is advisable to soak in, toss around, and really ponder all the seemingly useless thoughts that stroll into one’s mind. Changing one’s major in college is one of these decisions.
All around the country there are kids plugging into iPods or sitting in front of their loudest speaker and letting the semi-sages of their time blast them in hope of experiencing a postmodern religious experience. For better or worse, music changes people’s lives.
The perfect song at the perfect time in the perfect place will just dig into people for some reason or another. People bury themselves in the lyrics. For a few brief moments they allow the melody take them away from their supposed problems. When they come back from this state, their mind has changed the way it thinks and their lives have then changed their course. When one concentrates on each word, each movement, each slight pluck of the strings they participate in an act of meditation.
Why discuss this? Why put this down on paper? A few days ago I was driving to my university and this song came on by chance of shuffle:
And then this:
These songs convinced me to change my major from the very profitable Petroleum Engineering to a major in something I would love to do instead of this despised profession my parents chose for me. The line, “My god, what have I done!” just struck a chord deep inside me. “And I guess I just don’t know” is really how I felt. When I told my family (2 engineers, 2 lawyers, and even more self loathing sell outs) they hung up the phone. I don’t care. I encourage you guys not care about what other people tell you to do with your life. Fuck them. Success is not measured in how much money you make, but in how much you enjoy each individual immeasurable moment of life.
Enough with the fucking soap opera. The point of this editorial is to get you guys to post what songs have changed your lives. Put a YouTube link in the comments. It is much appreciated.
(This song didn't randomly pop up on my ipod but it still is pure greatnessness)