I didn’t bring much with me to Thailand, but what I did bring was a small collection of music that I’d downloaded using Kazaa years ago. I brought about 2300 songs on CD-ROM and another 100 music CD’s from my collection. 3000 songs to manipulate my mind.

Yeah, I mean it that way. Music changes me inside. While it’s playing it changes my heart rate, my thoughts, my mood, attitude, needs, expectations… When it stops there is some residual spillage over… whatever mood or problem I had before listening to the music was altered. It changed during the 4 minutes I ‘was’ the song that was playing.

I become the song that’s playing if it’s one of my favorites. I must have 5000 favorites. I think of nothing else while the song is playing except the melody, the instruments, the lyrics, the tones… I am the music. That’s the power of music… it becomes you when you listen to it.

For me, and I’ll bet for every one of you reading this -

NOTHING HAS THE POWER
TO CHANGE YOUR MOOD
better than M-U-S-I-C

I think that’s a universal truth… nearly everyone in the world that can hear can have their moods affected instantly by music.

That’s so powerful!

Think about that. Any time you choose you can play some music that changes your mood. What a perfect tool that is for those of us that want to get a little more control over the mind. If you could control the mind the way you wanted to – 100%, do you realize what you’d be capable of? If you could control your moods 100% do you realize what you could accomplish? It’s boggling. Of course that’s the ideal, and one which I don’t think exists for anyone, but moving toward that goal is not such a bad idea.

I use music to change my mood in many ways…

When I wake up in the morning – like now, it’s 7:39 am and I just dropped my friend off at work. I am sitting on some folded up cushions and typing out this blog post. I’m still waking up, usually hitting my peak about 10 am. If I’m going to write at this hour I need some music that is appropriate to help wake me up… bring me into the world of the awake.

This morning I chose the “Pinback” folder. I’m not sure that you know them, they were kind of obscure back when I first heard them in 2001 on a radio station in my rental car as I was driving around Phoenix, AZ trying to find some pizza for dinner. I was traveling around the USA with a job I had and as a benefit I was able to hear music from all over. This was one band that hit me really hard. They were live at a radio station in downtown Phoenix and I listened to track after track amazed. It really felt good to me. I immediately got on the file-sharing services and found about 8 Pinback songs. I now have about 30 and I never get tired of them.

Pinback is good for the morning because it’s slow tempo, easy lyrics, no shouting, great melody… yet it doesn’t make me fall asleep, which is essential at this hour.

I’ll listen to this for a while and then around 10 am if I’m still writing I might need something more up tempo. I’ll likely switch to “English Beat, Ska, REM, or The Strokes” which are perfect for the 10 am to 7 pm time-frame. I don’t need to listen to fast tempo music all day, I’ll change the pace with some Radiohead, Cat Power, Billy Holiday, Natalie Merchant, Tracey Chapman, Ben Harper, and some old reggae like Yellowman, Marley, Beenie Man, or Gregory Isaac as the mood hits me.

Music can wind me down at night if I need it, but I rarely do. I’ve never had any problems sleeping at night, I’m gone a few minutes after my head touches the pillow without fail. If I ever need to calm down before I lay down to sleep I go straight for Innocence Mission, Sade or Cat Power and before 10 minutes are up, it’s ‘game over’ for Vern.

So, music can help during a normal day, but what about an abnormal day? What about when you’re frazzled or anxious and worried about something? This is a tough call for me because usually when I’m in that mood I won’t turn on music. I should, as it could help. I usually won’t though. If I did I’d turn on some Natalie Merchant, Sade, Ben Harper, or even The Smiths since I’m soothed by those bands. They put me in another world. It’s funny, but especially when we’re anxious we are reluctant to do anything except focus on whatever is making us anxious. This fuels the fire and we can work ourselves up into a state that’s unnecessary, besides being unhealthy and wearing out those close to us. A couple of Ben Harper song’s could make the world OK, but you’ve gotta CHOOSE to hear them first…

What I usually use music for is to get me revved up and ready to go do anything I need to do. It get’s me pumped up and in the “I can do ANYTHING!” state of mind. This is a good state of mind to be in for obvious reasons… It gives one the impetus to do whatever it is that was being put off… Music like this gives you the strength, power, will, drive, control, and capability to tackle most anything if you pick the right music for you… for me the following are my “pump me up” groups: Meat Beat Manifesto, English Beat, Prodigy, The Strokes, Beastie Boys, Bush, Ramones, Sublime, and The Smiths.

You probably have one music group that really puts you in the best mood. I have about 30, but if I had to pick a favorite then it must be “The English Beat”. They have a ska type sound, but their instrumentation is phenomenal. Their lyrics are not always understandable as they are from England and speak a sort of slang, but that makes the music all that more intriguing and interesting to me. I first heard them in 1985 and I’ve NEVER grown bored of their songs. I’ve heard all of their albums hundreds of times, and still – when I have a choice of what to listen to I choose them a high percentage of the time.

What is your favorite group that has the power to change your state of mind instantly?

Best of Life,

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