Music Therapy

My first experience with actual Music Therapy was during the early months of 2007. I had a school project where I had to go to a Mental Illness facility and meet with a patient for 10 weeks to see if I could properly diagnose what he was suffering from. The patient had a bad memory, often confusing when things happened, not being able to relate his memory of something to the time period. This all completely changed when I took him to the Music Therapy unit at the hospital. Put that electric guitar in his hands and he was transported back to a time where he had no worries, he wasn't "sick" and he knew all the words and happily belt out the tunes, trying to get me to sing along too. It was an awesome transition and a very sad change when we would leave the building and he returned to the shell of himself that he had become.

As far back as I can remember, music has been a huge part of my life. It all started with my mum and dad being such huge music lovers and singing along to the music they grew up to. I swear, my memory is full of lyrics - that's why I forget what I was doing. *squirrel*

At a very young age I was immersed in the Beatles, Willy Nelson, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac and The Band. Singing along to all these songs with my dad really sticks out as a happy childhood memory. My mum had kept her 45 record collection and player. I got to hear original songs on the favoured media of the day.

Of course, I started to develop my own taste in music, following the trend of the initial boy bands in the late 80's, early 90's. Oh how I loved New Kids On The Block! Jordan Knight, all the way! Then came rap "lite", Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer. Somehow I got into my older brother's record collection and fell in love with Twisted Sister.

Later down the road, my mum and I would blast Mary Chapin Carpenter, sing along and dance around the apartment. All my music memories bring joy to me.

During this journey into music discovery, I stumbled into the music that will always follow me. Punk Rock. Hardcore. Emo. Acoustic side projects. Politics and sing along anthems. A "fuck-you" attitude, catchy lyrics to shout out and a group of friends that I fondly refer to as my "Punk Rock Family" and are still friends with over 20 years later.

My Grandma had Alzheimer's and eventually suffered from Dementia. She was a ghost of her former self. She didn't recognize us and we searched for her. It was so heartbreaking to see her disappear. But whenever a song from her teens or early 20's played, she was my Grandma again. The transformation was instant and the joy in her eyes was overwhelming.

I was in high school in the early 90's so I often feel nostalgia for early 90's "alternative" and 'grunge". I can still remember finding out Kurt Cobain died.

There are different albums that transport me back to a certain time in my life. When I was immensely depressed at 16, prior to being diagnosed properly, my boyfriend sent me the John K. Samson/Painted Thin split album. At that time, all I knew of John K. was his time in the famous Winnipeg punk band, Propagandhi. This solo work of his was brand new to me and there was an instant connection to his words, sounds and style. To this day, I can find comfort in anything he has written, be it his solo stuff, his Weakerthans work or his Propagandhi contributions. No matter what John K. puts out, I love it all. He is one of those artists that everything they do is amazing. I have to send a thank you out to Brad, the boyfriend who shared this album with me and helped me through a really rough period.

Dashboard Confessional is another one of those bands that transports me. This is a band that I will always do a road trip into the US in order to see them, as they rarely cross the border. A friend I met online in the late 90's turned me onto this side project of a member of Further Seems Forever. This was prior to him recording a full album and my friend had just found random mp3's online of this work. Instant love. There is so much emotion in Chris's voice that you cannot do anything but get lost in the moment with it. The early work of Chris's in Dashboard Confessional will stay with me forever, comfort me and soothe me. Unfortunately, with popularity, his newer music has become too popish for me.

The last band that is on the same plane as John K. Samson and Dashboard Confessional is City and Colour. Again, this is a solo project branching off from one member of Alexisonfire. Dallas Green put out the album, "Sometimes" and again, it was an instant love moment. I had always loved the melody that Dallas had brought to Alexisonfire and here was a complete album of his glorious voice. I'm a fan of his early work, finding the newest stuff a little too country for me.

These are three examples of music that calms me when I hurt.

This may not be the same music story as yours, but music unites everyone.

What music helps you get through the pain? Comment below!