Music and Me

Hello everyone, 

My name is Lanah (pronounced lawn-uh), and I am currently a first-year student at Converse. I am a biology major, and I am on the pre-med track. I am from Charleston, and I live there with my mom, dad, little sister, 5 dogs, a cat, a bearded dragon, and a school of fish. I love to read, watch tv, hang out with my friends and family, and do a little photography every now and then. My favorite foods are pasta and sushi and sandwiches, I love chips and popcorn, and I absolutely despise it when people eat with their mouths open. Truly, from the deepest, darkest depths of my entire being, I hate it. To end off a positive note, I love to laugh and I love to do things, watch things, and surround myself with people who make me do that. Pictured below is a ridiculous looking picture of me and my friends, and a picture of my dog, Spud. 

I have a fairly eclectic taste when it comes to music. I listen to songs of different genres, different languages, and instrumentation. But a common thread I find is that I like music with lyrics, whether or not I can understand them. Something I can sing to, can bob my head to. Currently, one of the most played songs in my current rotation of 15 songs that I listen to on repeat, is the song Broken Clocks by SZA. 

The lyrics, the background, the electronic sounds, and the steady beat scratch an itch in my brain. SZA's words are at times fast, sometimes they are slow, and they reflect what she is singing about. I love her vocalizations, and how you can almost feel her running from one thing to another when she sings fast, but then it is followed by an unbothered, unhurried tone. Overall, the song feels confident and gives me a little bit of that feeling. 

A few years ago, I was going through a rough time in my life, that had to deal with some deeply changing personal events. My friends and family were and still are unaware of how much these events really changed me, and it was something I kept completely to myself. While I am sure I would have benefitted from someone's help, I wanted to go through it on my own, because I did not want to burden anyone. During this period of time, I would listen to a lot of music that made me sad, I would be able to express the things that I could not/would not do with my family and friends. I was searching one night and I found the song worthless by eli. 

I saw the title of this song and decided that this song would probably be perfect to describe how I was feeling. I listen to it for a couple of minutes and I thought it was a very fitting song. I thought that some parts of the song, like the ascending piano music in the background, did not really fit the lyrics, because there was not anything uplifting about those. Then I hit about two minutes when in my listening and heard some words that were a peek of sunshine from a sun that was hidden behind some thunderous storm clouds. That is when the harmonious violins and the ascending and lighter-sounding piano music started to actually give me a tether, along with encouraging lyrics. This song means a lot to me because it opened my eyes, and allowed me to start wanting to help myself and change my mindset.  I value this song for the opportunity it gave me. 

As stated before, I like songs that I can sing to or I can bob my head to. I like words that make you feel something, that calm tumultuous emotions or emphasize passionate ones. I like upbeat songs, angry songs, sad songs, and songs that are many things at once. Because of these things, I find music from all different genres that I like, and I can normally find many different songs in almost every genre. However, there is one genre from which I have a hard time finding entire songs that I like, and that is Techno/electronic music. Sometimes I'll find songs that I will like certain parts to, but most of the time I do not like most of the songs in this genre. One such song is the song Heute Nacht by Maddix. 

Because there are normally very few if any lyrics, the songs feel never ending to me. I frankly get overstimulated by the song and I physically have a hard time listening to it. Sometimes there will be a good beat or rhythm in a techno song, but I am quickly overwhelmed by it.  I don't really know how to completely put into words my dislike for this kind of music. My ears find the sounds harsh, and I am not emotionally moved by the songs, and I hard time even finding a physical connection to the music.