The Sound of Music...and I'm not talking about the movie!

I've come a long way in five years when it comes to music. I remember the first time I heard the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Scar Tissue" on the radio during the summer between my 7th and 8th grade years. I knew I had to have whatever CD that song was on, and so, I went to the store and found Californication, which became the first CD that I ever really bought for my listening enjoyment. Most of my friends really got into music around the fourth and fifth grades, and if they didn't, by sixth grade they were hooked on some combination of Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC and Britney Spears (well, at least the girls were!)...but for me, having such little hearing meant I had no real desire to listen to music that I couldn't understand.

One of the most difficult aspects of having a hearing impairment has been my inability to understand voices through a filtered medium, such as a TV or a radio. While I may be able to understand what a person in the same room as me is saying without having to read their lips, it is virtually impossible for me to understand what is said on the radio or on TV, much less what singers say in their songs. So, I always used the excuse that I couldn't hear what the singers were singing about as my reason for not being such a big music fan.

But the Red Hot Chili Peppers changed it all. While I didn't realize it then in the 7th grade, there's not a lot of concreteness to their lyrics. Most of the time they're singing about stuff that has multiple meanings, if there is any meaning at all. For them, it's all about the sound...from these guys, I learned that there is so much more to music than what the singer is saying (otherwise, they'd be poets, right?). The music itself should hold just as much sway (if not more) over listeners as what is actually being said.

Flea's killer bass lines and the guitar solos of John Frusciante introduced me to a brand new world that I had been missing out on for the past several years. Although I eventually began to move to other artists and expand my music collection to artists like Three Doors Down, Bob Marley, and Jack Johnson, I've always remained true to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I can remember spending hours in front of my radio with the lyrics in one hand and the other hand on the rewind button....just replaying the same song over and over trying to memorize the words and when they were sung...for me, it was a memorization process. For the rest of the world, it's easy to hear a song once and then remember it a second time around without having to 'memorize' anything...it just comes naturally...for me, it was definitely memorization since I couldn't really 'hear' the words in the song.

There's no doubt about it...music is so much more than the words. But, while my focus in music has always been on the sound of the music itself - those who know me and my music wouldn't be surprised to find that most of the music I listen to has some variations of heavy bass and/or a very distinctive beat - lately as my appreciation for music has grown, so has my desire to learn what message the artists are trying to convey through their lyrics. It's a painful and laborious process to learn them now with a hearing impairment, but I'm really hoping a cochlear implant will change all of that. It can be so laborious, in fact, that I've often just made up my own words to the popular songs on the radio...people would hear me singing my own version to myself and say, what are you singing? After telling them, they'd be like, are you sure those are the right words? Right words or not, it still gave me the sense that I fit in and could 'sing along' to whatever song was on the radio, albeit under my breath (unless, of course, I'm in the car alone!!! ;-) ).

From what I've heard/seen, my ability to understand speech could and should improve dramatically. I've even read reports from other successful implantees who comment on the fact that they no longer need closed captioning on TV. Surely, if they can understand the TV that well, then they can hear what's being sung on the radio! It could be a bit of a letdown, however, to find that what the artists are really saying isn't as good as what I've imagined them to be saying...oh well, guess we all have to make sacrifices!

Keep those fingers crossed! This has the makings of being something awesome in so many ways! And, the next time you listen to the radio...try not to focus on the words so much...let the music in the background take more importance than the lyrics...it might change your experience or even cause you to like an artist that you've never had much appreciation for in the past.

Here it is...the addicting opening lines of what still remains as one of my favorite songs from the best band of all time:

Scar Tissue

Scar tissue that I wish you saw
Sarcastic mister know it all
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause
With the birds I'll share
With the birds I'll share
This lonely view
With the birds I'll share
This lonely view