It's overwhelming, and amazing.
Spend a few minutes on YouTube and you will find thousands (millions?) of videos (including a few of mine), of musicians playing every song imaginable. Who knew there was so much talent in the world?
A live version by the Tedeschi Trucks Band came up recently; it's particularly good, and reminded me that I hadn't listened to the original in a long (long!) time. It was just a click away and while I thought I was summoning the Nilsson version, the Fred Neil version came up first. I actually had never listened to it, so I did only to discover it was nearly identical to Nilsson, which I checked out next. Then, I looked over to the right and saw that YouTube had displayed a plethora of other videos from people I had never heard of, so I sampled some of those, which brought up some more and...well, you know how that goes.
Some time later, I came up for air and I realized I could probably spend literally hours just listening and watching videos of this one old song, actually any song, posted by all kinds of musicians of every age and ability. It's quite remarkable and truly something unique to our time.
One might question if there's any need for so many choices, but I think it's inspiring. Every version has something unique about it and is a reflection of the infinite variety of the human experience. It's really true, no two of us are alike.
Even more so, every one of us is capable of making music, and every one should try. I think it's because music, especially singing, is an expression of our shared experience and how we communicate that reality in way that transcends language. You may know that In the same way that exercise boosts endorphin flow, studies have shown that singing also releases this “feel good” chemical - resulting in a sense of euphoria, enhanced immune response, and a natural pain relief. Singing also triggers the release of oxytocin, which helps relieve anxiety and stimulates feelings of trust.
Given this, I guess it's no surprise that the combination of video on our phones and the internet giving us the means to share our performances that we have this explosion of musical talent to enjoy. The majority of these performers will likely not ever play in front of a live audience; which is another interesting topic to consider.
I picked up a couple things I've added to my version of "Everybody's Talkin", which I often do with my songs to keep them from going stale. It's interesting that uniquely, a song can evolve and be interpreted many different ways while still staying true to the original vision.
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| Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA |
Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms.
His records: "Limited Edition", "Home for Good", and “Loveland” are available on Spotify and other streaming platforms. His new recordings, "Astronomy", will be released later this year.
