Deployment Music
"When words leave off, music begins." ~Heinrich Heine
I heard a song on the radio the other day and the emotions came pouring back. It was a Keith Urban song, one that I used to listen to when Vic deployed for the first time. Immediately, I felt sad and anxious, energized and motivated, busy and directed, and lonely. It is amazing how music, set to a significant event, can capture all of the emotions from that time and hold it all within it's notes.
The first deployment it was Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, and Martina McBride. That was four years ago and it is just now that I can sit back and enjoy those same songs again. They were the soundtrack for a tumultuous year and until just recently I couldn't hear them without being overcome by the emotion of it all. I had no idea at the time that I would turn my back on the music that pulled me through those days. These were the songs that gave me the courage to keep on keeping on. These were the words that would play in my head when I wanted to hit the snooze button on the whole year.
The second deployment I mixed up my music a little more. I added some edgy rock and old time songs that gave me the chance to be angry. Bon Jovi, Fergie and Pink (what I call angry middle aged woman music) played in my car along with Toby, Keith and the boys from Rascal Flatts. I pulled in some classical music for meditating and listened to Christian singers that reminded me that I wasn't going through it all alone. Whenever I bought a new cd, I bought it in triplicate. Sooner or later I'd run into someone going through a deployment who needed the soundtrack that I was living to.
I had someone pick up my ipod and look through the artists, commenting on how eclectic my music was. I believe it is a sign of how interesting my life has been. There are numerous genres and years of music styles. There are completely opposite types of artists.
Most of the songs could tell a story.
Many of the songs were my refuge during trying times.
Several of the songs were the only things that I would really let go and cry to.
Just like a good friend, or a cherished picture, the music holds the key to most of those memories.
It's time to make a playlist, and chronicle them all for the sake of history.
Thank God for the music.
I heard a song on the radio the other day and the emotions came pouring back. It was a Keith Urban song, one that I used to listen to when Vic deployed for the first time. Immediately, I felt sad and anxious, energized and motivated, busy and directed, and lonely. It is amazing how music, set to a significant event, can capture all of the emotions from that time and hold it all within it's notes.
The first deployment it was Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, and Martina McBride. That was four years ago and it is just now that I can sit back and enjoy those same songs again. They were the soundtrack for a tumultuous year and until just recently I couldn't hear them without being overcome by the emotion of it all. I had no idea at the time that I would turn my back on the music that pulled me through those days. These were the songs that gave me the courage to keep on keeping on. These were the words that would play in my head when I wanted to hit the snooze button on the whole year.
The second deployment I mixed up my music a little more. I added some edgy rock and old time songs that gave me the chance to be angry. Bon Jovi, Fergie and Pink (what I call angry middle aged woman music) played in my car along with Toby, Keith and the boys from Rascal Flatts. I pulled in some classical music for meditating and listened to Christian singers that reminded me that I wasn't going through it all alone. Whenever I bought a new cd, I bought it in triplicate. Sooner or later I'd run into someone going through a deployment who needed the soundtrack that I was living to.
I had someone pick up my ipod and look through the artists, commenting on how eclectic my music was. I believe it is a sign of how interesting my life has been. There are numerous genres and years of music styles. There are completely opposite types of artists.
Most of the songs could tell a story.
Many of the songs were my refuge during trying times.
Several of the songs were the only things that I would really let go and cry to.
Just like a good friend, or a cherished picture, the music holds the key to most of those memories.
It's time to make a playlist, and chronicle them all for the sake of history.
Thank God for the music.
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