Le Musique De Français

"Ahem... I would like to make an announcement," the timid blogger whispers behind her laptop screen "I don't know how to start this blog post. So, um, yeah... continue with your life and read my post... or don't, whatever you like".

Pick one and enjoy while you read!

A few weeks ago, my friend Connor told me about a whole different genre of music that I had been inadvertently been avoiding: music in different languages. Now you would think that of all the music I've listened to I've thought of listening to French music, but no! I can't believe I've been so oblivious to the beauty of French music.

No, no, I'm not joking, it's one of the most beautiful things these ears have ever experienced.

These are the six stages of musical addiction my friends. Beware, beware of the mighty French.

Listening to French music, or any music in a different language is an incredible cultural immersion. I can't tell you how many times I hear people ranting about English music and how <cue mother voice> "Miley Cyrus is ruining pop" or that "there's no good music these days". These people are wrong. Oh yes, I'm looking at you pop culture.

The one thing I've taken from listening to French music is that music is so much more than a collection of lyrics and catchy beats. I'll admit, I probably understand about 75% of what each song is saying. Does this mean I can't appreciate it? Oh heck to the no. Now this where I become Hippie Grace so keep an open mind when I say this, it's about noticing the way the music makes you feel, not what it's saying. When you listen to music in a different language, you get a clean slate of what to think and express when you hear a song. You probably won't know exactly what it's saying, but you can get a gist of what's going on. We have to stop thinking about music as just context but the entire experience of listening to it.

Songs don't mean the same things for all people, take the infamous "Blurred Lines" for example. For some it is a dance song with just a few naughty innuendos here and there. For others it is the epitome of what modern feminism is trying to eliminate in society. And when I was looking for good songs to put in this post, I didn't really care about what the lyrics said up front, but how they made me feel. That's why we listen to things right? They evoke emotion from us, so we listen so we can feel that emotion.

Maybe I'm going too in depth about all this, maybe I didn't get enough sleep this week (darn right), and maybe I should clean myself up before going to see Frozen in an hour, but I think music is too complicated to just explain easily. I encourage you to listen to music different than your normal genre, who knows, you might fall in love with it (or chuck your iPod out the window and clean your ears out of horrid sounds). Perhaps you'll find out something new you didn't know about your taste.

Look at me, I've been listening to jazz, show tunes, French, funk, pop, alternative-rock, indie, folk, country, and I haven't gone crazy... yet. Immerse yo self chillins' and keep being funky-fresh, Grace out.