Permanent Waves

Music is so powerful in my life that I can barely remember a moment without it. As children, my mom would pile my brothers and sister and me in the back of the family car, and we'd go for a ride to the outskirts of town. It was valuable, because that's when I learned to reflect, to think, to absorb the sights around me, but almost always turning thoughts into wonder about why the world is the way it is. And always, just as valuable, was the ever-present sound of radio, pouring out of the speakers, right into my ears, and casting an image in my brain. I learned much about melody and harmony and wondered even more about lyrics that for years to come would still not quite make sense to me.
One of the songs etching itself into my psyche was Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecilia." My God, those harmonies, that incessant rhythm, so different, so catchy, so uplifting, so indelible. The joy of music, so embedded in me, from the trips we took, when I was young, and lucky enough to have speakers that spoke to me. All I had to do was listen and feel.