#40 SING!

 

Singing cat. Photo by dsevilla under Creative Commons license.

 

One of the greatest things in life is music. There’s something about it, it takes your mind off things, it makes you feel good, it brings memory of past friends and events, music is special. If you sing to a song though, you take the musical experience to another level. It’s like you’re singing with the artist you love. It’s engaging in conversation with the artist, just that it’s one-way.

You use your voice everyday to express thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams in clear words. But melodies are more subjective. People form images in their head when they hear high shrills or fast quivers, ocean-like bass tones or sweet caresses.

Don’t wait til the fat lady sings. Sing out! Sing in the shower! Sing with the dishes! Sing with your ipod! Sing with your bike! Sing with your mother! Sing with your cat! Sing with your brother! And when you’re all done with singing, guess what? Sing some more. You never know who is listening and you might just brighten someone else’s day.

I’ll leave you with the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of French icon Serge Gainsbourg, who collaborated on her CD 5:55 with French band AIR (very recommendable). 

#39 Listen to Music in Another Language

I’m in my third semester of Spanish here at UT and though my speaking skills aren’t that great, I love that I have been introduced to so many interesting aspects of this culture.  All of the Spanish professors I have had always liked to play songs or music videos for us during class.  Though I may not really understand what’s being said, there are still some really great songs out there!  So every now and then I add a little Espanol to my iTunes collection.  Some artists that I enjoy listening to are Juanes (check out La Camisa Negra y…oops, thinking in Spanish…and Damelo), Julieta Venegas, and Grupo Fantasma, which is an Austin original.

I’ve also been playing this song a lot lately.  It’s called “¿Quién Eres Tú?” by Maria Jose. It just makes me wanna dance!