Much more with it today so I'll try and stay on top of things!
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‘American Pie’ by Don McLean
A fact that many people may not know about me is that I am actually a big Buddy Holly fan, for a number of slightly obscure reasons that aren't really worth going into here, but it's true. So much so that when I was about 12/13 I begged my Grandma to take me to see the 'Buddy Holly Show' in the West End, which remains one of the best musicals I have ever seen. So I first encountered this track from the perspective as a tribute to a great but under-rated musician.
Over the years it has come to have a number of different meanings for me as an individual, speaking about a very important period in American history as well as speaking to a person for whom music has come to be such a central part of my life. Partially from a perspective of a member of a musical subculture but also because of what music has come to mean to me, in a choice between loosing my sight and loosing my hearing I'd actually choose to loose my sight. Despite the fact that all of my hobbies and to a certain extent my job depend on my ability to read and see things loosing the ability to hear music would be devastating to me. As part of the above song Don McLean almost invites us to consider a world where "music died" which in part has always been part of the impact of the some for me.
"Can music save you mortal soul?" I've always believed it could.