Kory Wisdom February 15, 2012 Music Appreciation Music is an essential part of my life. It affects me in many ways, not just emotionally, but physically as well. I have been listening to music for almost my whole life, but the type of music I have listened to has changed throughout my life. I have been influenced by many people as to the type of music I have and currently listen to.
To start off, I have listened to numerous types of music throughout my life. I started off listening to hip-hop and rap music.I believe that my sister influenced this. This is because I listened to music in the car whenever I rode with her and I never got to choose the station. She listened to the radio station Hot 104. 1, which is current hip-hop and rap.
For example, I used to listen to Brittany Spears, NSYNC, the Spice Girls, and the Backstreet Boys. I used to make up dances to the Backstreet Boys songs with her when I was a young kid. Once I hit middle school I started listening to what all my friends were listening too.At this time, rap was on the up and coming. I just wanted to fit in with all my friends and not be an outcast.
All the cool kids were listening to it and I would do whatever it takes to be popular. Highschool is where I started to branch out on my own and not do so much of what people wanted me to listen to. I didn’t really care what other people thought and was going to have people like me for who I am, not who I should be. This is when I started to listen to a lot more country music.My parents have always listened to country and I believe this made us a lot closer.
We would listen to country in the car whenever I would ride with them and found a passion for it. Listening to this would help us not worry about everything that was going on in the world and just give us a break. After high school when I moved out and am on my own. I started to listen to all different types of music. I became a lot more open.
The kid I hung out with the most listened to rap music only. Artists like Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Drake and so on.I love to drive around and listen to music and just sing along and be myself. A lot of the songs I would listen to would be songs that I knew all the words too. It made me feel a lot happier and just release stress.
One of my all time favorite songs is “Ants Marching by the Dave Matthews Band. This song is about how people get so caught up in just going through the motions and letting life pass you by. One way this song touched me is by knowing that I should cherish every moment I have while the people closest to me are alive.One song that really has touched me and I can really relate to is “Small Town Southern Man” by Alan Jackson. The main reason is because this song relates exactly to my grandpas life. He passed away when I was only in 6th grade.
I was so close to him and some say that I am a spitting image of him; I take pride in that. This song touches me and always brings tears in my eyes because it makes me think about everything that I have done to break away from the man he was. Another reason I listen to music is because it is very soothing.It really relaxes me. When I go up to the plate I want a song that will calm me down, a song that I used last year was “Made” by Big Sean.
This song reminds me that I am my own person; no one else’s opinion should not affect my life in any way. Music has affected me throughout my whole life, going from being cool to understanding the true meaning in the songs. Music has shaped me to become the person I am today. Without music, I do not know how different my life would me. That is what music means to me.
