Ah , musical memories

[UndertheOcean]

Ah , memories . I remember back home across the Atlantic , having borrowed Wagner's Ring from my Professor , an old tape set he purchased while studying in the U.K. . I remember being generally bored with the record at the time , those long 3 to 4 hour Operas with seemingly too cerebral music and dull singing that almost sounds like speaking . Yet , one lazy afternoon , preparing to attend a relative's wedding , the finale of the second Opera in the set ("Die Walkure") came up while I was at the sink shaving , accompanied by bright white sunlight shimmering in the soapy basin water. And it just hit me , right then and there , like a lightning bolt through my skull that shattered then reorganized my grey matter , right then and there I got what all this music is about, I was not the same person anymore . Really good music always affected me in a similar manner , the joy of understanding that comes after several listenings laced with indifference , but the magnitude of the shift this time around was astonishing , it was like suddenly acquiring a new sense.

I attended the outdoor wedding that started at twilight , but I was not there . My eyes were staring at a bright star , and my mind was immersed in that wondrous music.

That music which I greet today as an old friend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnuNJFbPjzo