Somehow, I like to listen to rock music when I am feeling slightly blue or down about life. I think rock music has its roots in jadedness with life, reality, frustration and bittersweet feelings. Yet the songs do not end up completely wallowing in self-pity or dejection (some love songs do that), choosing instead to vent the frustrations by singing about reality in all its brokenness, with no apologies, and a bit of rebelliousness and heck-care attitude thrown in.
Sometimes it is just so good to let our hair down, put aside all the politically-correct language aside and tell reality like it is. I think that is why I like rock. After all the fizzy frothy pop songs that sing about love in a mono-dimensional way, usually focusing on just ONE facet of emotion (e.g. "I should be so lucky", i.e. why can't I get lucky and my dream guy just falls in love with me, or "I love your smile", i.e. as it's namesake, or "longer than", i.e. I have been in love with you super long, or "Would I lie to you", i.e. I wouldn't lie to you! But sung in that cheeky smooth way that makes you doubt it), and the snappy rap songs, that sing mostly about nothing but have their funky beat and irrepressible catchy rhythm that makes you want to get up and dance and more than makes up for their lack of content and depth... gosh I lost my train of thought. Also, I realised I really love some of these songs!
Oh ok, I guess after frothy pop and funky rap, which tend to be happy, sometimes I need a bit of gritty rock music to make me feel human again, cos life is not all rosy and peaches. On those days when things don't go well, I'm too tired to find out who's at fault, to think too much about it, rock music just helps me channel my malaise out somewhere, for the time being. Of course, one can't depend on rock music to solve problems. One would just end up being permanently angry and rebellious and jaded about the world. One uses another tool for that-- like faith, for me. When my heart has stopped beating erratically, my stomach settled down from its churning (my poor organs) and my rolling emotions have worked their way out of my system, I then turn to God to see what He says about the situation. But when I am in the throes of my emotion, when I am indignant and angry about the way things are in the world, then singing or listening to a rock song just gives vent to how I feel deep down inside.
I think there is a time for everything. There is a time to grieve, to be angry, to be sad, as long as we have a healthy way to work through these emotions, without harming anybody, and we ultimately come up with constructive ways of addressing these problems. I am quite an angst individual, I must say. Being calm and happy all the time just eludes me!
I tried listening to opera as I was doing work (at home) the other day, eager to try out my new opera CDs I bought in Berlin. However all I got was a headache. I think opera and concentration on arguments don't mix. One needs focus to enjoy opera - especially as it is in a different language and we need to focus on the intonation of the voice to appreciate the emotions. But I do think opera is one of the rich forms of music adept at conveying emotion.
