Music speaks all languages

WARNING-- if you're offended by course language, you should probably not read the third paragraph. I will not be held responsible if you find it offensive what I've said about "yo mamma", and will not be amused if you leave me a nasty comment about anything I say. Depending on my mood and/or PMS, you may get a rude comment back. I have a mouth on me (much to the chagrin of those around me), and I'm not afraid to use it (also, much to the chagrin of those around me).We are all entitled to our opinions, and this is mine, so if you don't like it, I must ask you respectfully to leave now after reading this. My original comment was " if you don't like it, piss off", but that's a little bit too PMS-y for the opening paragraph, non?

I love music. From the time I was little and was "forced" into taking piano lessons by my mother, to (willingly) learning to play the clarinet and oboe (playing both was providential for me later on because you just can't march with an oboe) in band class, to the present day where music is still a big part of my life (I sing with my church's choir, "cantoring" at Mass occasionally, etc.), I'll listen to all types of music, in all languages. I've come to see that there's really no divide in any form of music; even if you don't understand the language a song is sung in, you can still love or enjoy the tune. I truly believe music transcends all barriers, it speaks all languages, it can bridge cultural divide. Unless of course, it's attacking or debasing a group of people-- and there is music that has done so historically. The "Horst Wessel" march of Nazi Germany is just one example. And then music is "disgusting and evil" to say the least. It only goes to show that music can be used for all purposes. I'm quite frankly surprised there isn't an 'Al Qaida Death March' song... but there probably is and I remain ignorant of it. I do know of Al Qaida "recruitment videos" that utilize music. So yes, music is being used for evil even today. I hope I never have to hear much of it, because then I'll have to use "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue: The Angry American" by Toby Keith as a "rebuttal".

Many songs also have "local variations". Holst's famous classical work "The Planets-- Jupiter" is one of them. Part of it's also called "Thaxted" (the middle of the piece, from about 3 minutes into the work until almost 5 minutes and then this theme is repeated at the end), and this part/theme is the tune on which the British patriotic hymn "I Vow to Thee, My Country" is based. I've sung it myself at Mass as "O God, Beyond All Praising" during Ordinary Time, and as "Three Days" during the Easter season (especially at the Easter morning/Easter Vigil services).

When I post links to Arabic language videos on Youtube on my Facebook page, comments tend to range from, "It's soooooo cool you listen to 'our' music" to "why are you listening to something you can't understand?" Um, I do speak a few words of basic Arabic. I can understand perhaps 5-10% of a conversation, based on the words I do know. I know when I'm being talked about. Part of the words I know are personally insulting (mebbon, zamal, ane gahbe-- gee, thanks Muneib, you bastard... even though you were born on the right side of matrimony, teaching an American woman to call herself 'stupid or a whore' makes you a bastard by action or default and then you wanting her to repeat it to your father should earn you a slap to the face by one of us), part are basically the Arabic equivalent of "yo mamma is so...." (bin/bint sharmuta)and part are things that could be repeated in polite company (keef halak, ana bekhair). But even if I couldn't understand a word of the language, I'd still enjoy the music. Among my favorite artists are Nancy Ajram , Myriam Fares, and Haifa, all Lebanese artists. Arabic music videos tend to tell a story much more than American ones do. You can tell what's being said in the words by what's going on in the video. I don't think anyone watching Nancy's "Enta Eih" would be unable to grasp the fact that she's with a dude that's cheating on her and doing it right in front of her eyes. Or that in "Yay Sehr Oiono", she fell in love with a man at first sight, due to the "magic of his eyes". A sad note to many of Nancy's videos is that one of the male "leads" in them has now died, due in part to steroid abuse. While the actor/model was clinging to life in a Beirut hospital before being taken off of life support, Nancy paid for his medical care. A true example of someone using what they have to serve others.

I've been looking for an "old" Debbie/Deborah Gibson song (note-- if you remember her, you were probably alive in the 80's!), "Tear Down These Walls". It's really appropriate when it comes to what needs to happen between the U.S. and Libya. There does need to be free flow of dialogue and culture. While I do not and cannot agree with some of the news that comes out of Libya about the status quo, that's my prerogative. While Libya in the past did support causes that were controversial in the West and/or were directly linked to terrorist groups, a lot of progress has been made there... and a lot needs to be made. Liberals like myself always believe there's progress to be made-- that's why they call us "progressives."

I've been told that Youtube is "blocked" in Libya, which really bites. It means I'm unable to share music with my Libyan friends within the country. Censorship is not condusive to creating or maintaining open dialogue. I'll leave it at that. And ironically, while my friends cannot access Youtube, they can freely access porn sites. At one time, and it may still be the case, sites such as the CIA's World Factbook could not be accessed by Libyans; it would crash their computer. Why? Because of "cia.gov" being in the URL. For the record, the CIA World Factbook is an almanac, featuring (relatively) unbiased information about the countries of the world, their governments, their people, any "transnational issues" they're involved in, etc. If you wanna test the "mute button" of the authorities, here's the direct link to the page on Libya -- http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ly.html . I was first acquainted with this site in my contemporary world problems class in high school. One of our chief projects were units on the various continents, and we had to select several countries from each region to do a more in-depth report. When the unit on North Africa and the Middle East came along, nearly everyone chose Libya for the same reason. It was easy to find news on the country (usually due in part to The Leader himself-- no further comment about why should be necessary there), and coloring the flag was downright easy. Some (not myself-- even I'm not that cheeky) went the lazy, non-artsy fartsy route and merely turned in a sheet of green paper. No, they didn't get full marks. Others of us actually gave a damn about our grade and the project and did a little more. I will say I must've used three Prismacolor green colored pencils in that ONE unit... two on the Libyan flag. :D

Let ALL music be a part of your life. It has the power to calm, to inflame, to rally, and of these things, its rallying capabilties are the most important and most dangerous depending on how it's used. Music transcends all barriers, it speaks all languages. Embrace it... listen to music not from your own culture or in the language you speak... and be "Blessed".