Soundtracking

"I remember singing "The Cross" by Prince in my head to focus on, while laying on a stage pretending I was dead, blood capsule in my mouth, it worked...

I was 16 and had just been theatrically slaughtered by a boy with angel wings and a violin...good times..."

I just tweeted that after the song triggered the memory.

And a good memory it is....

Which got me to thinking about my passion for soundtracking.

Soundtracking.

I call it that because much like soundtracks in films, I enjoy putting a soundtrack to my life.

This happens in two different ways:

1) HeadTunes

Unbeknown to onlookers I will have a song or tune playing in my head to accompany situations I find myself in. This tune might be triggered by something that is said (a word that corresponds with a lyric of a song) or an image that conjurs the song in my head.

For some freakish reason nature has blessed me with a brain that stock-piles needless information, and among this information there's a full library of music and songs, oftentimes complete with (partial) lyrics.

My buddies sometimes call me "the human jukebox" because of this.

2) HeadPhones

I will have headphones squeezed into my ears whenever I can OR listen to music via players of sorts.

This in itself is not uncommon; these days quite a lot of people walk around like this.

But the difference is, that I'm not blocking everything else out....I'm coloring that what I see....

I apply this, for instance, when I'm reading a book; every single book I've read has had a soundtrack to it.

And every soundtrack is different, because every book is different.

Effect is that I can remember the story of a book whenever I hear a certain song, and especially what it made me feel.

Needless to say I always collect and dissect my own music for the plays I direct, as I'm well aware of the effect sound has on the over-all image.

And yes, I can get VERY annoyed when soundtracks to movies are bad...especially if they don't allow time to breathe, or at least give you the idea they do...

Anyhow...

Soundtracking

"I felt the blood capsule powder mix with my saliva and trickle down my face, as the boy with the angel wings played his violin, and I lay there, motionless in front of an audience of onlookers...all the while "The Cross" played repeatedly in my head...."