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Feb. 14th, 2010
Valentine's Day, and music
Feb. 14th, 2010 08:23 pmA Michael Kamen quote I've deftly burgled from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chris_walsh, who posted in his LJ, which neatly covers both my feelings on music, and on Valentine's Day itself:
"Music was not invented to make people rich, to keep people dancing or to sell soap on the radio or television for that matter or to accompany an elevator ride. That isn't the purpose of music. It's for planting corn and making love and for celebrating the birth of your children and the death of your parents. The things that make life profound are the things that make music work."
I'll never understand the people who disparage Valentine's Day as a "Hallmark holiday"- as being strictly and solely a festival of commercialism (as opposed to Christmas? OR Thanksgiving? Hey, how much did your Halloween costume and decorations last year cost?) Even granted that we live in a country where everything has been commercialized to the brink of doom, it's still- to those who practice- a paean to romance, to passion, to the things that make the blood beat. Yes, there are many, many people, straight and gay, for whom this particular holiday is always going to be something of a thumb in the eye; I do indeed hope that things change for them, and that in years to come, they have reason to associate this day with love, not with loneliness. That said, I don't understand the logic of condemning this day for everyone- of denying, in effect, that love can still exist in this world. If anything, I think people should reach past the idea of making one particular day out of three hundred and sixty-five an excuse for romantic celebration; if you're seeing anyone (and for the record, I myself am not; please note that this hasn't made me any more jaded and bitter than I am the rest of the time), try to make every day have a bit of the Valentine's Day magic.
Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.
chris_walsh, who posted in his LJ, which neatly covers both my feelings on music, and on Valentine's Day itself: "Music was not invented to make people rich, to keep people dancing or to sell soap on the radio or television for that matter or to accompany an elevator ride. That isn't the purpose of music. It's for planting corn and making love and for celebrating the birth of your children and the death of your parents. The things that make life profound are the things that make music work."
I'll never understand the people who disparage Valentine's Day as a "Hallmark holiday"- as being strictly and solely a festival of commercialism (as opposed to Christmas? OR Thanksgiving? Hey, how much did your Halloween costume and decorations last year cost?) Even granted that we live in a country where everything has been commercialized to the brink of doom, it's still- to those who practice- a paean to romance, to passion, to the things that make the blood beat. Yes, there are many, many people, straight and gay, for whom this particular holiday is always going to be something of a thumb in the eye; I do indeed hope that things change for them, and that in years to come, they have reason to associate this day with love, not with loneliness. That said, I don't understand the logic of condemning this day for everyone- of denying, in effect, that love can still exist in this world. If anything, I think people should reach past the idea of making one particular day out of three hundred and sixty-five an excuse for romantic celebration; if you're seeing anyone (and for the record, I myself am not; please note that this hasn't made me any more jaded and bitter than I am the rest of the time), try to make every day have a bit of the Valentine's Day magic.
Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.