Music Comes Full Circle

For those of us that are self-proclaimed “music nerds” like myself, it seems like music has surrounded us from the day we were born. An obsession with music and the emotions and feelings that it brings out in us isn’t something we chose, but something we were born into. It was passed down through our family like blue eyes or red hair. There was just no escaping it.

This was certainly the case for me. For as long as I can remember every car trip, every family get together, there was music. When we cleaned the garage every summer, the stereo would be outside, warbling away. I suspect this is the same for many people, irrespective of background, where you grew up, or what music was being played. Songs from bands like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, The Clash, The Police, and The Counting Grows soundtrack my earliest memories. In fact, the first time I was brought out of my house as a baby was to watch a pay-per-view event where some of the most popular musicians came together to celebrate Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday by holding a concert in Madison Square Garden, with greats like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Pearl Jam performed classic Bob Dylan songs.



Neil Young

But above all those great artists, there is one that always sticks out and recurs over and over in my earliest musical memories-Neil Young. My dad is an avowed Neil Young fan. He has seen him countless times, and owns all of his albums in one form or another. His passion for Young’s music even extends into his earlier outfits like Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Ever since I can remember his music has been in my ears. Listening to classic Young albums as my dad and I would drive to baseball games when I was young, my dad showing me Neil’s more fun and lighthearted songs like “Old King”, a banjo-tinged ballad about a canine companion, are memories I still hold dear to this day. But, as I grew up and developed my own musical taste I shied away from artists like Young and Dylan, shrugging it off as “my dad’s music” and developing a taste for 70’s rock like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. Then one day as I returned from a trip to New York City, my dad popped in new Neil Young and Bob Dylan CD’s he had picked up as he indulged his music obsession at a closing sale of Tower Records. The music I was hearing this time seemed different, and didn’t bring the usual feelings of apathy, but instead a sense of enjoyment and excitement. I quickly began to put Young’s albums into my own music rotation, and soon became a Neil Young fan in my own right.

This discovery could not have come at a better time. My dad and I have always had a back and forth relationship, one that could be both driven apart and brought back together by our shared passion and temper. But as I listened more and more to Neil Young, it became an easy talking point, something we could always go back to when times got tough. We attended his concerts together, a tradition that still continues to this day, we shared excitement as new albums came out and we dissected every song on them, sharing opinions, our favorite songs, what excited us about the albums, and what disappointed us. Neil Young became an important marker in my own musical development. I fell in love with Young’s embrace of unpopular, sometimes strange elements in his music and sought out bands that also indulged that affinity for the weird. That search brought away from the rock radio I had grown to despise, and into the indie and alternative music scenes, and led me to my favorite bands now, bands like Wilco, Sonic Youth, The Gaslight Anthem, Kevin Devine, Brand New, and Manchester Orchestra. I began to listen to Young less and less as I found bands from my own generation that struck a chord with my music obsession. He was always around my listening, but not at the forefront anymore.



As I left for college, conversations with my dad occurred less and tended to shift in focus. As I struggled in my first year at school, we began to talk, and often argue, about my struggles, how to fix them, and consequences of them. The lighthearted conversations about music and sports that had brought us close had started to slink away and tensions between us were again becoming strained, a development that delighted no one. I began to wonder if things would ever go back to the simplicity of Neil Young album discussions and comparing the bands I found to him. But then things began to change. I got my act together and the two of us both made a concerted effort to not only talk about “business” like school and summer jobs. As the new semester started we both promised to talk more often, and try to find our way back to the things that had brought us such closeness.

And at the perfect timing whispers of new Neil Young albums and tours began to surface. Rumors that he would tour with his original band Buffalo Springfield kept my dad and me guessing and speculating over their veracity. Announcements that he was working with his (in)famous backing band Crazy Horse brought excitement, which only grew, as half hour long sessions of him and the band were leaked online. Relations began to improve and things came back to normal.



Manchester Orchestra



Then one recent night as I clicked around Youtube videos of one of my new favorite bands, Manchester Orchestra, I found something that immediately caught my eye and ear. It was a video of three members of the band, two sporting guitars and one with a harmonica, covering the Neil Young classic song “Hey Hey My My”. I immediately posted the link on my wall, excited to hear his take on this combination of different styles and eras.



The video immediately put me into thought about how the music of Neil Young, and music in general, has brought me and my dad full circle. No matter what direction my musical taste goes, how far away the heavy guitars and passionate, sometimes screamed, lyrics of Manchester Orchestra seems from the folk rock acoustic tales and erratic electric guitar play of Neil Young, I always find my way back. It seems as though Young’s music will always be a factor in my life, and I couldn’t really be any happier. It is really a sign of why I, and the whole of us that count ourselves as “music nerds”, fall in love with music. It allows us to make connections and bridge gaps that may not be possible without music. It seems to bring everything back to the beginning.

 

Brendan Murray '14

Image credits: last.fm and www.guitarlessons.com