Music to the Soul

So I had a similar instance of divine intervention as our friend Yusuf's. Admittedly, it may not have been quite as cool, but it was still something. So I will admit to everyone out there, I watch the CW. I probably watch it more than someone in their late 20's should. Well, as of late they have had these commercials that just list the names of shows and what time they are on... nothing fancy, nothing special. Except for the music.

Anyone who has known me since my pre-law school days will know that in my natural state I am somewhat of an audiophile... okay I am completely an audiophile. (Law school has seriously dampened my obsession, but it still lingers in the background.) So when I hear a song that catches in my head, I HAVE to have it. This CW commercial played music in the background... simple music, no words. It was incredibly catchy, even in its 15 seconds of play. Talking to my fiance (who is a great enabler of my music addiction), I could not even recreate what the music sounded like because the instruments were so unique. It was driving me crazy. I kept running searches on Google and other search engines trying to figure out what the song was.

I started to hit rock bottom. I was jonesing for the music bad, real bad. I found my prayers being tainted with pleas to God to find the song. I laid awake in bed at night, staring at the ceiling and making deals with God to figure out what the song was. It looks like the Big Guy heard my pleas and decided to indulge me.

After several weeks and searching I began to give up and concentrate on other aspects of life again, like school. While conducting a marathon research session in the law library I was listening to my new iPhone (something I think Ginger should profile as something God owns stock in), when all of a sudden I heard the faint beginnings of some music. It rang familiar in my head... the excitement began to build. But surely, I could not have owned the song all along. The music kept playing... I listened with anticipation... and there it was, the familiar guitar chord repeating. It took all the energy I had not to get up and start laughing like a maniac at the miracle I was experiencing. Apparently, I had downloaded the song (which was Great DJ by the Ting Tings) from iTunes on one of their free Tuesday downloads and just had never really listened to it (come on, I have like 4,000 songs on my phone). I said a small thankful prayer to God and ran to share the news with Ginger, who was not as impressed, but nonetheless it was my miracle from God.

Which leads me to another point I am going to touch on quickly, since it probably deserves its own post. Super religious people who don't believe music is kosher/halal/down with God. There are plenty of extremist Muslims who say that music is against the religion. I would imagine that there are similar folks in other religions as well. Now I understand the concept that things that take you away from God are not good things... but seriously, I do not think listening to Death Cab for Cutie makes me a bad Muslim. If I listened to the Jonas Brothers, that probably would, but I am safe on that point. Music is a good way to unite people and bring them together. It is not something that needs to be rallied against. The Mullahs who outlaw western music in the Middle East are sorely going about it the wrong way... but outlawing it, they are making people want it more. If they would just hand out free Rihanna albums, no one would want to listen to her anymore. Maybe that is the secret to getting rid of the Jonas Brothers....