When You Fall In Love With A Song
A couple days ago my 8 years old daughter brought home a printed sheet with lyrics. It was a new song she sings in the school choir. She asked me to find and play it on the YouTube. Only a couple seconds into listening the song I was completely hooked. As was she.
Situation like this happens once in a while and I cherish these moments. First sign of a budding relationship is when I have to jump behind the piano to play and analyze the piece. That is followed usually by days and sometimes weeks of a sweet music obsession. I am sure that many of you know that feeling. Those who don’t probably haven’t found their favorite music yet, or aren’t listening enough.
The object of my love-burst is a French song On Ecrit Sur Les Murs, sung by a French children group Kids United. It has a clear purpose to attract as many listeners as possible – for a good cause, as they sing for UNICEF.
Musically the whole group concept is based on catchy tunes, lyrics about human understanding, and appropriate video clips. The song, and the whole album Un Monde Meilleur, was released on November 20th, which is the International Day of Children’s Rights. All sung by preteen and teenage four girls and two boys. Those numbers vary though. And they are selling out concert arenas in France!
You may argue, that the whole idea behind a project like Kids United, is to get you emotional. Sure it is. But that is the main purpose of music. To emotionally move you.
As this song is in French, I don’t understand the words, although I know what it sings about. For me that doesn’t matter. Lyrics is not important for me in the first, in the second and even in the fifth ‘round’. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that lyrics is not important. Just if the music doesn’t catch me, words will not make up for it. I prefer poetry instead of a boring music.
Interesting about this song is that it was written in the 80’s, by an Italian composer Romano Musumarra and a French lyricist Jean-Marie Moreau. The song became popular for the first time in 1988, sung by the famous Greek singer Demis Roussos.
The second coming of this song was the 2007 adaptation by the boys band Worlds Apart.
If I delve into my current emotional experience ignited by the song, I describe it as enormous joy, feeling of happiness with teary eyes, excitement, bursts of positive energy. It is truly like being in love, when that love is mutual and fulfilled.
For the clarification – this ‘falling in love’ with a particular piece of music is very different from a momentary excitement and goose bumps caused by a unique music performance. Ideally it could combine when a great composition plays a great ensemble, a group or a virtuoso. When one (the love) is caused by a great music itself, the other (goose bumps) is by the virtuoso performance.
If you are suspicious that I have become a victim of an ear worm, this is not the case. To test it, I have listened to a different music and the song I am in love with right now, fast disappeared from my mind. But when I listen to it again, the joy comes back.
I know that it will wear off. After some time my ‘love’ to the song will extinguish or diminish. What will remain is still a great feeling as a memory of this particular moment in my life.
Do you have such moments and memories? How is it with you when a song ‘gets you’?
You can write about your experiences in the comments below.