When I was little, I remember dancing around my room, singing along to the high school musical soundtrack, at the top of my lungs. With a pink, plastic microphone to my mouth and some highly regrettable dance moves, I'd have the time of my life every day after school. My silver CD player was my best friend, it never failed me and it even had a little antenna on top (OK, I'm feeling really old).
Music was great at that age, such an important part of my life, but it wasn't until I got a little older that I started to have a different perspective on my music choices.
It was around the time I started to get into videography, probably late high school, when I realized I really liked EDM and house music. For those of you who don't know about these genres of music, EDM stands for electronic dance music. EDM is usually played at nightclubs and music festivals while house music is something you play in the background at a low key party. House music rarely has any lyrics, which sometimes scares people away. While many of EDM songs are incorporated with a chorus, the best part of the song is usually when the beat drops.
My sister always yells at me when I reach for the aux cord in the car.
"I don't want to listen to your stupid music that has no words," is something she would say to me.
"IT DOESN'T NEED WORDS" I usually scream back at her.
There's something about driving around aimlessly in the summer — windows down, no shoes, hand out the window and a beat that makes you feel good. Sometimes, songs don't need words to make you feel a certain way. It's a pretty amazing feeling, the way a beat can vibrate your soul and send chills down your spine. Maybe the song has a chorus you sing along to until the beat drops and then BAM, your head is bobbing, fingers tapping, heart fluttering — it's the best feeling in the world.
Another reason why I fell in love with EDM and house music is the way it can bring me back to a moment in time.
There are a few songs in particular that trigger all sorts of happy memories. All I have to do is close my eyes and listen.
I'm swinging in a hammock on a tropical island, I can smell the pad thai cooking in the restaurant next door. I can hear the ocean, the small waves, quietly brushing the sand. The palm leaves are rustling in the slight breeze, everything is so calm.
It's amazing, the way music can affect your brain. To the people who think a song needs words to be singable, I disagree. In my head, I can sing along to any song, even if I'm not actually singing.
