I've got the music in me...

There are books that travel with you. Books that help you travel when you are couch-bound and ticket-free. We've discussed this before haven't we good friends? Tonight, while the rain beats staccato outside the window and the air is filled with the day's escaping heat... let's talk about music.

In the advent of iPods and other mp3 players, we bring entire collections with us. But there are only a hanful of songs that take truly us back to places we've been... or times in our lives.

I can't listen to Djavan's version of "Vamos Fugir" without immediately being taken back to February 2001... sitting at the LibSteps hangin' out on sunny afternoons. The ubiquitous pop phenom "Mr Suave" by Parokya Ni Edgar is not on my playlist... but it does take me back to Siargao's September evenings in 2003 with Tals and Ana, dancing to a loud showband of questionable talent... having the time of our lives. And there's the memory of Paolo shouting "we're driving straight for the sun" along the Sierra Madre footpaths as U2's "Beautiful Day" came right on cue. And, as some of you know, "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles will always be the song that brings back everything about my dad.

Music. Gotta love it. There is a power there. I know most of you would agree.

And with that I leave you with one of my current favorites... beautifully written by a surfer-videographer-musician who knows what it means to put memories to music.

Lie back in the grass with me. The air brings comfort to an otherwise humid night. The crescent moon hangs in the sky. The stars are out... and bright. And the only sound is a single guitar strumming... can you see it?

Constellations
Jack Johnson

The light was leaving

in the west it was blue

The children’s laughter sang

And skipping just like the stones they threw

Their voices echoed across the waves

It’s getting late

And it was just another night

With a sunset and a moonrise

Not too far behind

to give us just enough light

To lay down underneath the stars

We listened to Papa’s translations

Of the stories across the sky

We drew our own constellations

The west winds often last too long

And when they calm down,

nothing ever feels the same

Sheltered under the Kamani tree

Waiting for the passing rain

Clouds keep moving to uncover the sea

Stars up above us chasing the day away

To find the stories that we sometimes need

Listen close enough and all else fades

Fades away

And it was just another night

With a sunset and a moonrise

Not so far behind

to give us just enough light

To lay down underneath the stars

Listen to all translations

Of the stories across the sky

We drew our own constellations

What music brings you someplace else? Maybe we can compile a playlist together. ;)