More Music

I wish I could go to a concert every day.  I wish music just played from my shoes so silence no longer existed.  I wish I reviewed albums for a living.  Music is my life, even though I am not a musician.  And because so many great albums are being released or have been (La Dispute, Breathe Carolina, Taking Back Sunday, The Pretty Reckless, Onward Etc), music’s been on my mind.  So do enjoy some quotes about music because I just can’t get enough of it:

 

1.  “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley

 

2.  “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”  – Victor Hugo

 

3.  “Music became my religion, the record store my church, the rock stars my saints, and their songs my hymns.” – Dave Grohl

 

4.  “Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.” – Langston Hughes

 

5.  “That’s one of the great things about music.  You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.” – Dave Grohl

 

6. “Music can change the world because it can change people.” – Bono

 

7.  “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato

 

8.  “Music is to the soul what words are to the mind.” – Modest Mouse

 

9.  “You’re like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but forgot I knew until I heard it again.” – Maggie Stiefvater

 

10.  “Music is the strongest form of magic.” – Marilyn Manson

 

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Dying to Live

Today in my Nonfiction II class we read a passage from the book Shot In the Heart by Mikal Gilmore.  It was a gripping tale about his brother, Gary Gilmore, who viciously shot two innocent people.  The death penalty had been illegal prior to this incident, but the state of Utah invoked the death penalty specifically for Gary.  Gary’s brother, Mikal, didn’t want his name associated with the return of the death penalty and so tried to ensure his brother would, rather, have a life sentence.  Mikal’s thoughts on death and capital punishment are eye opening as well as thought provoking.  Gary wanted to die because he didn’t want to suffer in jail for the rest of his life.  And as Mikal points out, one cannot argue with death, it usually comes without warning, but not in Gary’s case.

Death is a somber subject, but much has been written about death because of how mysterious it is, yet how it’s a constant in everyone’s life.  Eventually in some shape and at some time, death will claim us all.  And as Ronnie Radke so cleverly penned, “If we are born to die and we all die to live/Then what’s the point of living life if it just contradicts?”  Fascinating, right?  And such a true, although pessimistic, statement.

I’m not trying to bum anyone out, but I’d like to share some insightful and gorgeous words about death.

1.  “Dying is an art, like everything else.  I do it exceptionally well.” – Sylvia Plath

2.  “From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am them and that is eternity.” – Edvard Munch

3.  “You have a choice.  Live or die.  Every breath is a choice.  Every minute is a choice.  Every time you don’t throw yourself down the stairs, that’s a choice.  Every time you don’t crash your car, you re-enlist.” – Chuck Palahnuik

4.  “Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put he gun to your chest.” – Ellen Hopkins

4.  “But we try so hard not to die, sometimes we forget to appreciate life.” – The Spill Canvas

5.  “I’d drive my car off of the bridge if I knew that you weren’t inside.  Put the pedal to the floor, who could ask for more?  A fantastic way to kill some time.” – Brand New

6.  “The calm cool face of the river asked me for a kiss.” -Langston Hughes

7.  “Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.” – Bring Me the Horizon

8.  “Will someone tell me what it means to be alive?  It feels just like the feeling when you die.” – Pierce the Veil

9.  “Can’t you see it’s better to die on your feet than to live down on your knees?” – Dan Nigro

10.  “The death of one is a tragedy, but the death of a million is just a statistic.” – Marilyn Manson