Sometimes people ask me why I like music so much – heck, sometimes I wonder myself.  Then I have a moment like tonight, and it is so clear….

I went out with my friend Kim for dessert and drinks, and we wound up talking down in Waterplace Park for about an hour, talking about life, love, careers, and other deep things.  I dropped her off at home and I took the long, winding way home, listening to the new Ryan Adams CD, Cold Roses.  The CD is a fantastic release from Adams, along with his new band, the Cardinals.   I’ve been a Ryan Adams fan for a while now, going back to his Whiskeytown days.  I’m not a country music fan, but I am a fan of the alt-country-rock genre and most of the bands in it.  Unlike many people who pick and choose over his albums, I’ve been a pretty consistent fan of his, perhaps because my musical tastes are all over the place – I’m as comfortable listening to "Love is Hell" as I am "Rock n’ Roll."  I like the fact that he does what he wants and has a range of sounds, critics and other fans be damned.

So anyway, I love this new CD, and have been listening to it all weekend.  One of the standout tracks is the song "Let it Ride" (no relation to the BTO song), which has been getting airplay on XM Radio quite a bit.  After hearing this song a few times, I had to buy the CD, and glad I did.

Getting back to loving music thing – after dropping off my friend Kim, I decided to take the long way home, while listening to Stone Roses, particularly the song "Let It Ride" and it was the perfect accompaniment to a nice, meandering ride home after a fun evening of good conversation, food and drink.  And when I say "perfect accompaniment" I mean it – it was a good tune to be listening to, it was kind of a transcendent moment.  See, I love driving around with good music, and I especially love driving around at night with really beautiful acoustic rock playing.  It makes me relax and clears my head.  It is something that makes me feel that all is right with the world for at least a moment.  I lack the ability to put into eloquent enough words how it makes me feel – peaceful, happy, introspective, thoughtful, at peace, calm, serene, contemplative, reflective, ruminative…. go look up the adjectives yourself, and they still won’t do it justice.

Admittedly, it does kind of remind me of a freakin’ car commercial – though it was a really good one, so I guess it is OK.  Remember the Volkswagen commercial a few years back that featured a few friends in a convertible Jetta driving along the coast to the sound of Nick Drake’s "Pink Moon"?  They end up at the party they were going to, and decide to continue driving around listening to the music rather than go to the party.  That sums it up pretty well, actually.

So that’s why I love music – because somewhere, a song writer and his band have perfectly captured a moment that I was having – and they had no idea I was going to have and may or may not have had themselves… but at that very moment, it was a perfect match and it made me feel as good as could be.  The same thing will happen, but in a totally different way later this week while going to see WASP and then Ozzfest on Thursday and Friday, respectively.  No, it’s not quiet, contemplative music… but it’ll let me get my aggressions out by yelling, screaming, headbanging, jumping around, and all that crazy shit… and for that moment, that will be perfect as well.