Say Something

The music of Rush influences and inspires, at least that's what it's done for me over the past 25 years. Now, the question is, is the music that powerful, or am I just too easy to inspire? Both I guess.

When something really hits me I tend to pay attention to it, like a smack in the face. It's tough to ignore something that's truly eye-opening. I pay attention to things that open my eyes, things that make me think and feel, like music. When I listen to Rush sometimes I laugh because of their comical aspects, sometimes I cry because of the impact of certain phrases or melodies, or indeed the combination thereof. I'm also often floored by the power of the music, and the sheer talent that created it.

The music of Rush can be incredibly gentle, and touching, stuff I would play for mom, unlike my old AC/DC or Ozzy Ozbourne (there's a story for another day), though I'm sure she has heard them vibrating the walls of my room one time or another. Rush also makes great wall-rattling tunes that you just have to crank up, songs with drive and power that make you want to play dashboard drums while you cruising along the highway. I'm a frequent dashboard drummer, though I can scarcely keep up with Neil Peart's double bass thumping -- my gas pedal gets in the way.

Sorry about that, back to my initial thought...

I feel many emotions when I listen to music, whether it's Rush, Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, Coldplay or a host of other great musicians and bands. The fact is, music inspires. A great song puts on its gloves and gives you a good one two punch.

Okay, some great songs just have a good grove, or catchy chorus, but when you're listening to not-top-40 music like Rush, stuff that's not at all heard on mainstream commercial radio, you're listening to a band that's made it as far as they have because of their influence and talent. Their fans love them because of what they say, what they play, and how they play and say it. Don't trip there.

I can't imagine what my life would be like without some of these great musicians and writers. And while their music inspires greatly, we must understand that they're still human, and humans make mistakes. Do as I say, not as I do. :)

When something hits me, I look to see what it was. How often do you feel an impact? I guess that's why I write and record music as well, because I'd like to influence people the way I've been influenced, positively. I have stuff to say, do you? Say it. If we say enough good things, we won't have to worry about what the papers say when we make a mistake, the people we've influenced won't dwell on it.

I was hit by the Bob Marley song "Could you be loved" that ends with the repeated phrase "Say something... say something...say something.."

Great song. Great idea.

Drew Vics, an artist, writer & musician from New Jersey, writes for http://www.Myeyez.net, and for other websites online.

MORE RESOURCES:

Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy - Reuters

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#39;08 music sales hit record high - Hollywood Reporter

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Music marketers target female shoppers at home - Reuters

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://uk.reuters.com/article/autoNews/idUKTRE5050KX20090106cid=1287391948ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNEmOnQiK2g-nSgdouDQcV6vPGdDEQbMusic/b marketers target female shoppers at home/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fReutersnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Ed Christman NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the bmusic/b business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma - Reuters

A Year in Love and Music - New York Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4i-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNFhy-dFJK-ygy9s1TieF2fPgaLxKgimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=-QR3ekXvzcMJimgurl=graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/01/05/opinion/jan2009.jpg width=80 height=55 alt= border=1brfont size=-2New York Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNFhy-dFJK-ygy9s1TieF2fPgaLxKgA Year in Love and bMusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNew York Times,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1With bmusic/b now available with a single, offhand click, it#39;s easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Musebin: The future of music reviews? - Los Angeles Times

Bid to open prison doors for music - The Press Association

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5icNEOedSK_LTFgiCOMeprkHOXWGgcid=1287414181ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNEJaPdkCk0Xf8fS6mCGZO-iMl8nIABid to open prison doors for bmusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Press Associationnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Organisers of one of the stages at the Glastonbury Festival will be taking their blend of bmusic/b and political campaigning to the heart of redneck Texas to b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

More schools getting in tune with mariachi - The Associated Press

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gh-BPSHCjEnd0-RefNJx3gr7dVtQD95GU3IO0cid=1287185631ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNHqC7pVfnm85BLuRtHKqk4CkVKjXwMore schools getting in tune with mariachi/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Pressnbsp;-/font nobr21 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Then the teenager started playing the bmusic/b of the elder#39;s homeland. Perez, 14, took a mariachi bmusic/b class at his Fort Worth high school, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Read all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media - CNET News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8i-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNHYlRzCIVBJtezqk4G5xxR2ZlDBsQimg src=http://nt2.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=ipP30G3Vh4EJimgurl=news.cnet.com/i/ne/pg/fd_2009/090105_itunes.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2CNET News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNHYlRzCIVBJtezqk4G5xxR2ZlDBsQRead all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNET News,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr6 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of digital rights management software from the three largest bmusic/b labels, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/05/apple_inks_deals_for_all_drm_free_itunes_3g_downloads.htmlcid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNF28IC8nKlWI-rlY8Q7nUKwy6ZkWgApple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrApple Insider/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/05/apple-finally-drops-drm-on-itunes-music-ota-3g-music-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNFdlXneIvnDPISRO8seIZ_7Gy3WswApple finally drops DRM on iTunes bmusic/b, OTA 3G bmusic/b downloads?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBoy Genius Report/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-3fd=Rurl=http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/05/drm-close-to-extinction-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNGxSihKasILm4Z5HXkRoo42NZmu5ADRM close to extinction on iTunes?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrVentureBeat/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-4fd=Rurl=http://mashable.com/2009/01/05/drm-free-music-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNHXdNMeu16g_nqMk27Z7DHiM-_98QnobrMashable/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-5fd=Rurl=http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/05/apple-ditching-drm-3g-itunes-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNEwobK48NLx4L-hH3czhyCV61BBkQnobrCrunchGear/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287366747hl=ennobrall 14 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music matters at Sundance - Variety

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998001.html%3FcategoryId%3D16cid=1286885000ei=QQ1jSZu9JKqi9gS9mciWBAusg=AFQjCNFIBa4g4ZxmgCpIYrBSWs9cO-5_qQbMusic/b matters at Sundance/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fVariety,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By KATHY A. MCDONALD bMusic/b matters at Sundance. Both the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival have long supported the cross-pollination between b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music - Google News

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