Sing For the Laughter. Sing For the Tears.

Music has always been one of my biggest passions, and I know most people say that and don’t know what it truly means, but before I can remember most other things, I can remember music. From the first time I heard “Shout” by Tears for Fears in Wanamaker’s department store, the original version, not the muzak version, to my first radio exposure to U2’s “Bad”, I have been entranced by secular music. Ah, that word rears its ugly head again because my parents have always been majorly religious (my dad’s a preacher and my mom is quite influential in the church), and before I even heard Debbie’s Gibson’s “Electric Youth” I had been exposed to gospel music, gospel music, and even more gospel music. So, even now, although I have a deep appreciation for all forms of music, I hold a special place in my heart for gospel music as well. I am just as big a fan of Mavis Staples as I am of Nina Simone, or of INXS.

Over the years I have been asked what type of music I like best, and the answer isn’t quite as simple as others make it out to be. It depends on my mood, but it also depends on my history. The first time I got my heart broken I became addicted to Toni Braxton’s “Breathe Again,” so every time I hear it now I hearken back to that time period. Also when I’m feeling down, that song helps me to get over it, amazingly enough. When I got my wisdom teeth out, it was “You Don’t Know How it Feels,” by Tom Petty, that turned me around while I blasted it through my new headphones, laid up in bed. Bush’s “Everything Zen” was my teenage angst anthem, and Jewel’s “You Were Meant For Me” brings back memories of my first love.

When I was introduced to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) in 1987, I was in heaven. Artists like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Twila Paris perfectly blended my love of gospel, songs about Christ, with my love of rock and roll and popular music. And throughout the years the love affair has continued with newer acts like Casting Crowns, Relient K, and TobyMac. In fact, one of my favorite albums of all time is CCM, dcTalk’s “Supernatural.”

I remember in high school (I went to a boarding academy) we weren’t allowed to have Walkmans or radios, so my friends Rich and Greg decided they were going to get around the rules by using their Commodore 64’s music program to give us a karaoke experience. The problem was that there were only about five songs it could play so we got very familiar with those five songs. There was “La Isla Bonita,” “The Flame,” “Sweet Child of Mine,” and a couple of other songs, but those are the ones I could still sing in my sleep. That’s how the memories really do impact me all these years later, through the music.

So, when people ask me what kind of music I listen to, I can honestly say I listen to them all, and mean it. But for me music has never been just about the song itself. It’s about the history, the nostalgia, the feelings it evokes, and that’s good enough for me.

Sam