Musical interlude

We all have music that brings us back to points of our lives.  I’d like to share one of mine, which is both painful and soothing.

The year was 2008.  I had just started my new career.  Mel’s mom, Carol, had ovarian cancer, and had been given a good prognosis after aggressive surgery and chemo.  I bought an album by Coldplay for one song.  And then the cancer came back.

It’s hard to explain how hard it hit me.  See, early on I had some disagreements with my mother in law, but I had since grown very attached to her.  I started to share the love Mel had for her!  She was always available for us, we lived close by and grandma was there to play with Jack and spoil him.  More than that Mel has a special bond with her that I got to share, and I still see her mom in many of the things Mel does.  It was a huge loss for Mel when she died, that I could only partially feel, but if it hit me that hard, how much worse for Mel?!

The Coldplay album was Viva la Vida!  How ironic.  Live the life.  I remember playing the whole cd to and from my office in Reston, and I only can picture grey, cloudy days.  Fall days, cold days.  I played it constantly, and I grew to love the whole thing.  The words, the music, the minor key, the resolution into major key, and the whole thing is about life and death.  Unconscious references to God, unconscious references to Tolkien, and not really sanctimonious at all.  It became my way of coping with the cancer, and I would let my emotions out in the car to this cd.  Even better, the song I bought it for became my least favorite.

Eventually, the pain eased, and I put the cd away.

It popped up on shuffle today, and brought me back to those cloudy drives and blasting the radio.  Now it’s my own death I’m dealing with.  And the cd is still soothing to me now, and I recommend it to anyone who is having trouble.  No, really!  It’s not my favorite album, nor my favorite band, but if you want a glimpse of my thoughts and feelings, then do what I did and see if it helps.  In the lyrics are gems, and the overall musical direction resolves minor key songs into beautiful major key songs.  And it talks about life and death and LIVING!

And you know that means living now, for God, and then there is nothing to fear from death and his friends.

So, if you are having trouble thinking about the whole situation, I recommend this.  I always have a soft spot for Coldplay for this album, and I don’t think they get enough musical credit.