LEGENDmag

The Rhythm Is Gonna GetCha

I have always been fascinated by the idea that anyone can actually compose and create music. Not to say that just anyone can do it, but rather, I am saying that it blows my mind that it’s possible at all. That someone can be brilliant enough and that their brain works in such a very specific way to turn sound waves or ideas or little black dots on a page into sounds. Into something that is as capable of breaking your heart as it is of mending it.

Music is the great unifier. It exists in every culture, on every continent (well, ok, I guess penguin calls don’t count, so there probably isn’t too much music on Antarctica) and it is part of everyone’s shared cultural heritage. The geographic, socio-economic, gender specific, religious, cultural and generational lines that are crossed by and through music are staggering. We all borrow from one another, are inspired by various sounds and energies, beats and harmonies and can all find a way to dance. The basis upon which all of this sits, the very foundation upon which music is based is rhythm. This, by the way, is the most commonly misspelled word in my repetoir.

I believe that one of the reasons that we, as humans, connect so completely with and through music is because by our very nature, we ARE rhythm. If our heart stops, we stop. The cadence of our speech and the tone of our voice, the kick in our step or the drag of our feet, the tap of our fingers or of our toes, all of this is rhythm. Not only are WE rhythm, but our precious earth, our eco-system, our life blood as a planet, is also rhythm. Do not think for one moment that we are not connected by the beat, the call and echo, the flow and the precise timing of the universe. If you doubt me, watch the video below. The brilliant creator of this piece pairs Run DMC, three, young, black men from the inner city streets of New York in the 1980s with black and white footage of Communist Russian Soldiers in the early part of the 20th century, with beautiful, surprising and inspiring results. If even these share such a distinct commonality across time, oceans, cultures, races, generations and styles, there must be hope for us yet

As always, Peace.

Oh, and just a quick note…HOLY CRAP, can those guys dance!!! And you thought the Rocketts could kick!