It's going to be Wordpress madness around here now that I deactivated my facebook account. Since I can no longer post the minute-by-minute blows of my life (which really are not that exciting, believe me, but fun to do nonetheless), I am turning to my blog more. Lucky you. Or not. As I was cooking dinner tonight, I was listening to one of my favorite playlists - the music from the movie, Once. About a year ago my friend turned me onto this movie and since watching it I have been at a loss for how to describe it. When I happened to hear another friend say she loved the movie, I asked her why. She mentioned the music, of course, and the rawness of the entire story. I was left grasping for more, wanting her to explain what or why this movie is so captivating.
Once is a modern musical film. That alone can send people into visions of Julie Andrews pulling drapes off or windows or worse, Dick Van Dyke getting dirty atop a London apartment building. But this is no Julie Andrews meets Dick Van Dyke musical. In fact, I'm sure Julie would blush at the number of times the 'f' word comes flying from the lead character's mouth. Indeed it can be offensive.
But aside from the language, there's an enchantment that I can not exactly explain. After all, the story is so... well, so ordinary. Boy is struggling musician with a broken-heart. Girl is struggling mother and brilliant musician in her own right. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl make music. Emotional, sometimes dreamy, beautiful music.
While the two of them are writing songs and singing along winding streets (again, think not Mary Poppins nor The Sound of Music), they are also navigating their lives. Lives so ordinary in some respects. Lives with jobs and children and bills and obligations. But like all of us, lives complicated with our own desires and dreams. We watch as Boy and Girl intersect and hope that the future includes one another forevermore. (I will not spoil the movie.)
I suppose the reason I write this tonight is because I love discovering music that tells part of my story. I love living life set to music. And I love the way this movie does just that - sets music to the beat of ordinary lives. But what's really magnificent about it is this notion that no matter what our circumstances may be, there is a song that fits the moment, and fills us with emotion we can't quite explain. Sometimes the emotion is a .001 on the richter scale of emotional intensity, while other songs can bring me straight to an almost dangerous 6.0 or more.
Whatever the genre, the songs that stir me most are those with lyrics or notes that penetrate my heart in an almost transcendent way. The music from Once does that for me. It evokes emotions that range from silliness to deep longing. One review even described Once as a movie that will swoon. And no matter where we are in life, who doesn't want to swoon every once in a while.