What Music Means To Me

(Written by Alysa Vazquez, 11 yrs old)

Music means everything to me. There is at least one song to fit any of my different moods. I like all kinds of music. If you would ask me to pick a favorite song, I can’t because I like a lot of songs from different genres. For instance, I like Pop, Country-Pop, Hip Hop, Classical, Classic Rock, Smooth Jazz, Motown and Christian music. My mother used to tell me that she would play classical and smooth jazz music through head phones and place it on her tummy to calm me down. I guess that’s why I like listening to these types of music. My family loves to listen to music. We can just be cleaning the house and jamming to Motown and study listening to Tchaikovsky. We are always listening to something good.

As I said before there are at least one song that fits any of my mood. My typical mood of is mostly happy. When I am happy I usually listen to The Jonas Brothers, Kenny Chesney, or Rascal Flatts. They keep making me feel good inside. For instance, Hold On from the Jonas Brothers talks about if you were having a bad day to just HOLD ON and things will be ok. Another song that keep me happy is Backwards from Rascal Flatts is so funny that it makes me laugh. It will make any bad day brighter. However, if I ‘m feeling lonely I would listen to Summertime from Kenny Chesney. Besides, I love to drink Yoo Hoo too.

I am Christian/Catholic and I don’t listen to a lot of music they play on the radio. I do listen to 89.7 SPIRIT FM; it is an all CHRIST related positive music. They play Christian Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop and Rap. You do get used to listening to it, it is pretty cool. Actually, I listen to more Christian music than any other type of music. One of my favorite bands is Casting Crowns. They write their own music and it is absolutely awesome. They just released a new album called The Altar and The Door. There is a song on this album called East to West. It is basically talking about how much Christ loved us to choose to die on the cross for us. The way His hands are nailed to the cross “from East to West – from one scarred hand to the other”. Christian music tends to be how He sends messages to us. I love to listen to it and reflect on it.

Country Music can be positive as well. I usually listen to Country-Pop. It is regular Pop music with a country beat and flare. Some bands and singers I like listening to are Brooks and Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sugarland, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Gretchen Wilson. Carrie Underwood has a great song called Jesus Take The Wheel. Gretchen Wilson has a song that we are not all California girls. They seem to be more family oriented and it tends to be positive music. The beats are good and catchy.

Another of my favorite genres to listen to is Motown. My parents listen to Motown when they were growing up and they had us do the same. One of my favorite is Diana Ross and the Supremes, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ or ‘Stop in the Name of Love’. Also another Motown group is Earth, Wind and Fire with ‘September’ and ‘Boogie Wonderland’. There are so many kinds of songs that I like in the Motown section. It makes me feel like dancing especially with my parents.

I also like to listen to Pop. I listen to Radio Disney on 990 AM. They play a lot of kid music for my little brother. But, they also play good music for my sister and me. For instance, they do play Jonas Brothers as I said before. They also play Hanna Montana (Miley Cyrus – Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter), High School Musical 1 and 2 songs. A lot of these songs make me want to dance and sing along. Some of them are sad but since I know them by heart it makes it so much better. I can relate to some of the songs since they are talking about kids and their everyday lives. For instance, I play Softball and the song Hey Batter-Batter from High School Musical 2 is one that I can relate to. Another one is Nobody’s Perfect from Hanna Montana. It is so true, nobody is perfect and sometimes I think I am, but I remember that I am not.

I know I am not alone in thinking that music has lost its touch over time. It’s hard to find good music now-a-days. What you hear is things kids our age shouldn’t be listening to. A lot of people these days think music has come back from its “shell”. Other people think that music is “dead”. By saying dead I mean that over the years good music has become extinct. It seems that the more popular music has no meaning to it. It’s just a bunch of words with a catchy beat.

I think that you would have to listen and determine what you think about different music. Some people may like certain kinds of music and others will disagree. We should be thinking about what is important in life and not worrying about material things which seems to be more popular. Music is a cool way to express your self in any way. We should make it a positive way.