I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me

Promised Land - Evolve - Ani Difranco
**********************************
she lifts her chin and squints at me
to assess what i think i know
she says my heart has some dangerous neighborhoods
so beware where you try to go
and they say that the truth will set you free
but then so will a lie
it depends if you're trying to get to the promised land
or you're just trying to get by

what is a camera but a box of light?
what is a guitar but a box of sound?
you think i don't understand
but i think i might
what it is to harness the emptiness
and just ride it around

and maybe your chest is an empty shell
with ribs of spiraling coral
where a perfect pearl of sadness resides
but if you ever need an ear
i could just come and press it there
and listen to the sound of the ocean inside
****************************************

Music can carry emotions and thoughts like no other media can. It's been so long since *new* music has moved me like that (not including the wonderful world of broadway. Discovering Hedwig, Jonathan Larson's Tick Tick Boom, The Last 5 Years, The Full Monty and Adam Guettel have saved my sanity). Not to mention Mr. Bird and Patty Larkin...
The thing that bothers me is the vast majority of people don't know who any of those wonderfully talented musicians/musicals are. The blind masses are perfectly content with overpriced cd's of fluff with no idea how much they are being cheated.
And that's only the beginning. Music is what makes our world great. Experimenting with new ideas and sounds. It has the power to make all the atrocities going on around you go away for a little while. Although nothing can shake my worries about something very very bad happening to the U.S. in the near future. My naive self kept clinging to the hope that we couldn't possibly start attacking another country for oil. Abuse of power to the extreme. It makes me so happy to see everyone banding together in (mostly) peaceful protest, even though those in power don't give a shit what its people want or believe in. I refuse to be a part of the madness, but I don't know how to change anything.
I want to be proud of my country. I really really do. It's just impossible for me to ignore how royally screwed up it is. All I can do is hope and pray for the best possible outcome and continue on towards my goals. I will become a therapist that helps others get back to contributing to a better world. I'm also planning to let my hair grow out until August and cut it all off to be donated to Locks for Love, a group that makes wigs for children with illnesses or diseases that causes hair loss. I heard Kristen Kormylo did it a couple years ago and it sounds like a great way to contribute in my own little way to make a difference. I've gone through a lot this past week, including expensive car issues, rehearsals, preparing for auditions and boyfriend problems, but they just don't seem important in the scheme of things.

I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me

Promised Land - Evolve - Ani Difranco
**********************************
she lifts her chin and squints at me
to assess what i think i know
she says my heart has some dangerous neighborhoods
so beware where you try to go
and they say that the truth will set you free
but then so will a lie
it depends if you're trying to get to the promised land
or you're just trying to get by

what is a camera but a box of light?
what is a guitar but a box of sound?
you think i don't understand
but i think i might
what it is to harness the emptiness
and just ride it around

and maybe your chest is an empty shell
with ribs of spiraling coral
where a perfect pearl of sadness resides
but if you ever need an ear
i could just come and press it there
and listen to the sound of the ocean inside
****************************************

Music can carry emotions and thoughts like no other media can. It's been so long since *new* music has moved me like that (not including the wonderful world of broadway. Discovering Hedwig, Jonathan Larson's Tick Tick Boom, The Last 5 Years, The Full Monty and Adam Guettel have saved my sanity). Not to mention Mr. Bird and Patty Larkin...
The thing that bothers me is the vast majority of people don't know who any of those wonderfully talented musicians/musicals are. The blind masses are perfectly content with overpriced cd's of fluff with no idea how much they are being cheated.
And that's only the beginning. Music is what makes our world great. Experimenting with new ideas and sounds. It has the power to make all the atrocities going on around you go away for a little while. Although nothing can shake my worries about something very very bad happening to the U.S. in the near future. My naive self kept clinging to the hope that we couldn't possibly start attacking another country for oil. Abuse of power to the extreme. It makes me so happy to see everyone banding together in (mostly) peaceful protest, even though those in power don't give a shit what its people want or believe in. I refuse to be a part of the madness, but I don't know how to change anything.
I want to be proud of my country. I really really do. It's just impossible for me to ignore how royally screwed up it is. All I can do is hope and pray for the best possible outcome and continue on towards my goals. I will become a therapist that helps others get back to contributing to a better world. I'm also planning to let my hair grow out until August and cut it all off to be donated to Locks for Love, a group that makes wigs for children with illnesses or diseases that causes hair loss. I heard Kristen Kormylo did it a couple years ago and it sounds like a great way to contribute in my own little way to make a difference. I've gone through a lot this past week, including expensive car issues, rehearsals, preparing for auditions and boyfriend problems, but they just don't seem important in the scheme of things.