Guess it’s Question of the Month time, isn’t it? Michael sent out the question early last month, and it’s been sitting in my email all this time. If I answer it, I can get rid of the email! Yay!

This month’s question comes to us from Alex J. Cavanaugh:

This is a much harder question than you might think, because different music speaks to me at different times. At different times in my life, I might have said British Invasion rock, horn rock (e.g. Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears), blues, New Wave, Eighties Europop, jazz in various forms (smooth, post-bop, Dixieland, cool, Gypsy, etc.), “Hee Haw” country, musical comedy (Spike Jones, Homer & Jethro), folk-rock, fingerstyle guitar, surf, garage rock, blues-rock, jazz-rock, fusion, lite rock, yacht rock… and that’s just for starters. Best way to tell is to look at my Two for Tuesdays, or Battles of the Bands, or Monday’s Music Moves Me, or The Friday Five. In every one of those instances, the music I’ve played here is music that spoke to me the day I wrote the post. Or take a look at the playlists I’ve built on YouTube.

See, I can’t really nail it down. There’s music all over, and either I like it or I don’t. A lot depends on my mood. For example, I remember the morning I played this over and over in the car because I was feeling frustrated with my job and my life…

It was really the first time I listened to the lyrics as more than just another part of the music.

When explanations make no sense,
When every answer’s wrong,
You’re fighting with lost confidence,
All expectations gone.
The time has come to make or break;
Move on, don’t hesitate.
Breakout, don’t stop to ask;
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.
When situations never change,
Tomorrow looks unsure,
Don’t leave your destiny to chance.
What are you waiting for?
The time has come to make or break.
Breakout, don’t stop to ask;
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.
Breakout, don’t stop to ask;
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.
Some people stop at nothing.
If you’re searching for something,
Lay down the law, shout out for more.
Breakout and shout day in and day out;
Breakout, don’t stop to ask’
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.
Don’t stop to ask;
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.
Don’t stop to ask;
Now you’ve found a break to make it last.
You’ve got to find a way,
Say what you want to say; breakout.

(Lyrics courtesy Metrolyrics)

Of course, I didn’t do a damn thing about it… but that morning, it spoke to me, loud and clear.

Another time, I was driving to the airport, and this song came on, and when it got to the fast part (started at 4:45), I cranked it all the way up and just drove, really fast, screaming all the way. I think I hit a hundred… I could have cracked up, and I wouldn’t have cared. I don’t know what got into me.

And there was the day I was really pissed about something, and played this a bunch of times…

A lot of times, though, the music just sits there in the background, like white noise.

I don’t know if this is the answer you were looking for, Michael, but it’s the one I’ve got.

I’ll be around to read the responses from the participants, but what about the rest of you? What music speaks to you?