Yesterday The Daily Post had a Discover Challenge called Song, and this is what it said:
Song
Tell us a story about a piece of music that stayed with you.
BY BEN HUBERMAN
Want to participate?
Each Tuesday, we’ll provide a theme.
Publish a new post — in any genre or medium — in response to the theme.
Create a pingback to this week’s challenge to share your post with the community.
And this is my response:
I can not decide which song to pick because there are so many, so I will just randomly pick the first song that comes to my mind whether there is a special connection there or not, and the first random song to come to my mind is the song T’es Beau by Pauline Croze from her first album Pauline Croze:
When did it start?
One day back in maybe 2007 when I was still in one of my periods of experimenting with language learning (Esperanto, French, German, Spanish) and expanding my music collection to include music in more languages as I found interesting songs on French internet radio and in similar to/recommended music artists lists on Amazon and other places.
I was listening to a French internet radio station (whose name I can not remember, but later it was bought by Virgin Radio) as I browsed the internet, and then a song that was playing caught my attention.
The woman singing the song was singing in French and her voice and the music had a calm and relaxing lullaby-like sound/feeling to it that caught my attention.
I looked to see the name of who was singing the song and what the name of the song was.
The musician (music artist) was Pauline Croze, a musician that I had never heard of before, and the song was T’es Beau, which I had never heard before.
I could not understand the lyrics because I did not know enough French yet (I still do not, I am forever stuck at the just beginning level, and I always start and stop language learning sometimes); but I still was able to enjoy the song.
I felt that I would probably like more songs by Pauline Croze, so I immediately started looking for more music by her.
I found out that she only had one album out at the time (her second album Un Bruit Qui Court was not out yet), and I found a few more songs by her.
I liked those songs as well (some even more than the song T’es Beau) so eventually I ended up buying a limited edition CD (that included a special DVD) of her album Pauline Croze.
Pauline Croze quickly became my favorite music artist until this day, and her album Pauline Croze went on to become my favorite album until this day:
How has it changed over time?
The song T’es Beau does not connect with me as strongly as it used to, but it is still an easy listening type song that you can listen to and relax to as it plays in the background or as you daydream.
Sometimes I still daydream of myself or Pauline Croze or someone singing this song and playing this song on an acoustic classical guitar while sitting on the front steps of the B Auditorium building at MS University (where I went to college, but I never finished) near the flower bushes during a nice quiet sunny day during the spring as a few students and other people occasionally walk back and forth from the S Fine Arts Center building.
Does the song’s meaning reside in the melody, the lyrics, the performer’s voice — or some other intangible element?
I think it that it resides in all of those things, even though I do not understand most of the lyrics, and that combination creates a certain calm and relaxed mood and still somewhat reminds me of a lullaby.
Thanks to the song T’es Beau, I was introduced to Pauline Croze and her music for the first time, and that led to a new favorite music artist and favorite album.
Even though I can not understand most of the lyrics to her songs, listening to Pauline Croze’s music helped me during some tough times during the years after having to drop out of college after struggling with anxiety (social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder) & depression et cetera, a dramatic change of my worldview, quitting my part-time job after a civil war (the non-violent kind) at my job that led to my anxiety levels getting too high, so I quit, not having enough money to continue college, feelings of isolation and loneliness and sadness and abandonment and failure et cetera, et cetera.
So T’es Beau may not be my favorite song, but it still does have a special place and somewhat of a special connection with me still.
Fin,
- John Jr
Oh my goodness I had similar issues when I was at Varsity – anxiety and stuff. It’s a horrible thing to deal with…
This was a fun read. You have great taste in music 🙂
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Hello Sissh,
I am sorry to hear that you had to deal with that too, it is definitely a horrible thing to deal with, and I hope that you are still not struggling with this as well.
Thank you for the compliment, and for commenting. 🙂
-John Jr
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You’re welcome John Jr. And thanks for the kind thoughts – yes its not as bad as back then, I’ve learned a few coping mechanisms to use daily and when I get too overwhelmed. I hope the same for you?
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You are welcome Sissh, I am glad that it is not as bad for you and that you have also learned so coping mechanisms, and things are about the same for me except things are worse for me than they are for you probably but better than it was back then.
My coping mechanisms allow me to walk the line or hang from the line just enough to get by usually, and so it is a constant struggle that has become normal for me because most of it is subconscious it seems.
-John Jr
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Thank goodness life has a way of smoothing itself out… I’m glad you’re doing better than before. I think its great that you have a job at a library as well – working in a place that values a peaceful environment is a plus (I used to volunteer at the local library and I’d enjoy it quite a bit ^_^)
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Working at the library is okay, and it would be even better if my department was not understaffed so we have to rush a lot trying to keep up with the constant flow of items coming in the limited time some of us have.
If that issue were to be fixed and if I could get a four-day work week, then that would be great. 😀
That was very nice of you to have volunteered at your local library. 🙂
-John Jr
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Lol I guess it’s never quite as it seems on the surface. 🙂 A four day working week sounds like bliss!
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Yep :D, but I am fortunate to have the job and I only have to work 21 hours a week 5 days a week (with one week day off, and one weekend day off).
-John Jr
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