Music

8 Reasons I'm Thankful #6

There are so many bands that I love, but in 2008, I was fortunate enough to see my two favorite musical acts of all time live.

Over the years, the music of R.E.M. comforted me during a period of my youth where I didn't know if I wanted to live or die. It is the music that made an outsider like me feel like somewhere, somehow, I could belong. It was the music of yearning and passion. R.E.M. is music for my brain and my heart. I hope they record forever.

Bruce Springsteen also speaks to my heart and to my brain. In 1984, my favorite singer was Rick Springfield. My Aunt offered to buy me a 45 and I told her I'd like either "Love Somebody" by Springfield or "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce. It was the Bruce 45 that captured my interest. I would slowly get all of his albums on cassette and I learned that music is ... well ... more. It could be so much more than simple entertainment. It was something that could inspire. It was something that could comfort. Springsteen was the first artist I listened to that made me think, and surprisingly to a kid, that didn't lessen the impact at all. If I hadn't discovered Springsteen, I would have never been open to discovering R.E.M.. or the Replacements, or Husker Du, or Big Star, or the Velvet Underground, or the Clash, or the Cure or for that matter Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash or Hank Williams. I owe it all to Bruce.

I'm thankful to have heard the music of Springsteen and R.E.M. I'm thankful that music exists.