After writing the last post about hitchhiking to Montreal to see TOOL, I got to thinking. How could I be so obsessed with a band and a genre of music so much eight years ago, and yet now when I listen to the same band I feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in a bad way. Like the music that represented my life and feelings so perfectly years ago, is now way too heavy and NEGATIVE for me.

I think we all intuitively realize on some level that music aligns you with whatever its VIBE is – whether it’s angst, lovestruck-ness, happy go lucky, sadness – but we rarely take a minute to consciously think about it. For instance, when someone just breaks up with you, you might listen or relate to songs about lost love, feeling down, broken hearts. Or it’s possible you would listen to heavy aggressive music because that’s how you feel. Or maybe you try to listen to happy music to cheer yourself up – to try to get out of that slump.

When I work out (more on my new approach towards health and fitness in an upcoming post), I like to listen to music I wouldn’t normally listen to – stuff like Kanye West – because the music makes you feel like you can bench press the world. Deep down, we know that music changes (at the very least influences) our attitudes and our feelings. The question is, do you want to be aligned with those feelings? What if the vibe conveyed is one of weakness, hardship, or irresponsibility?

Tyler of RSD explained this same idea — although he was talking about books. In my experience the same principle applies to music:

I think that a really great book has a sort of frequency or vibe to it that’s based in positivity, abundance, presence, intelligence, and wit, that sort of “re-aligns” you every day to that sort of mindset.

Purpose of reading = re-alignment with that vibe.

-Tyler, Real Social Dynamics

(source:   http://realsocialdynamics.blogspot.com/2008/10/periods-of-intense-productivity.html — brilliant post. As a side note, I predict that in the next 5 years Tyler will move from being just a figure in the Success with Women industry to a leading thinker/speaker in the Personal Development industry…)

So, back to music. Thing is, most great music comes out of strong feelings — love and heartbreak being the most common. If you take a look at some of the really great songwriters of the last few years (in my opinion), most of their songs fall into this category. Take Mason Jennings – I love this guy’s music, but if I have to listen to one more song about his girlfriend cheating on him, or how he can’t get over his one-itis (meaning he can only think of one girl), I think I’ll throw up on my Ipod. Or then there’s The Stars (who I love), whose music just plain make me sad – the kind of sad that feels really good, but nonetheless, still sad. Name a happy song that Jeff Buckley wrote. Or Jose Gonzalez. All fantastic artists, don’t get me wrong.

More Videos

(warning: the above song may make you sad)

Lately I’ve been searching for music that represents the FEELING (frequency, vibe) that I have in my life and want more of: happiness, feeling awesome, health, positivity, abundance, confidence, adventure. The problem is, so far I haven’t been able to find too many artists that fit my two criteria: 1) their music conveys that positive frequency or vibe and 2) I actually like their music.  The album Yell Fire by Michael Franti with Spearhead (albeit with a political twist) and a lot of Bob Marley’s music fit the criteria, but overall reggae as a genre doesn’t really do it for me. I’d like to find some rock or alternative (does that word even mean anything anymore?) that puts forth that VIBE. That positivity.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s awesome music out there that also makes you want to kick *** in life. I hope there is, and I hope you’ll tell me about it. Got some music that makes you feel awesome? Please post in the comments.

(PS. I know you’re out there reading this. Yeah, you. In the month of November I had over 3000 unique visitors. Probably a lot of you I don’t know personally, and came here through a link somewhere. Some left after 20 seconds, sure. But some stayed. And if you like reading, I’d love it if you’d comment – even if it’s just a constructive critism, a rant, or a simple hello.)