Music is a Passion

Music can unlock a person's soul...their inner self. I think a person's tastes in music can describe their very essence. Sometimes, I judge a person not just on how they present themselves (this method does not always hold true), but I also judge a person based on their music selection. This may actually be a better method of determining a personality because if there is one thing people are not afraid to do, it is to freely enjoy whatever music they want (unless you are in a country that bands certain categories of music...which still shreds light on a person's characteristics). Listening to music is a passion...music is a form of self-expression. We listen to music when we're sad, upset, distressed, elated, angry...and there are millions of different forms of music to fit whatever emotion we are experiencing because, chances are, someone else in the world at some moment in time felt the exact same way and decided to translate their emotions into music...perhaps as a form of catharsis.
I love playing the piano...and it is a shame I don't play more often. When I move, I can't take it with me...probably not until I have a place of my own. It will be hard not to have it. My favorite songs to play in no particular order? Christmas songs, Broadway, opera, and classical (a lot of Beethoven). Especially with Beethoven...the man was deaf! And he created the most amazing music with such raw energy and power that time will never forget. Years from now, people won't recall any horrible Britney Spears song, but once "Moonlight Sonata" is played...there is no way anyone could not recognize that.
Other beautiful songs that will not be lost in history: "Nessun Dorma" and "O Mio Babbino Caro", both by Puccini in two different operas. When you hear a recording of Pavarotti sing "Nessun Dorma", you practically melt at the sheer power behind his words.
I find that a majority of modern American songs lack a deeper meaning...most of the emotions involved are too superficial and too physical. When Jenn and I were in Rome last summer with other students, we were eating in a restaurant and there was a man and a woman singing opera pieces while we were waiting for our food and I had asked the woman to sing "O Mio Babbino Caro." And even though we weren't in the Metropolitan Opera and she wasn't Joan Sutherland or Maria Callas, the purity and innocence of the song reduced me to tears...very embarrassing, but very gratifying.
"Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"
"And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!"-"Nessun Dorma" from Turnadot