The Magic of Music
While listening to a Croatian radio station in the car a few days ago, I heard the song: A kad dodje proljeće (And When Spring Comes) by Gazde & Sandi.
I’m not sure where or when I first heard the song. It may have been a gem I uncovered while illegally downloading songs from Napster. I discovered A LOT of gems on Napster-sorry artists.
Every time I hear the song, I get into a zone.
I become the singer; I become the storyteller. I tell the audience about an unrequited, lost, and broken heart. I sing off-key, knowing the tambura will steal the show.
I put it all out there for those five minutes.
That day, when I got out of the car, I played the song for a friend. And once again, I got into the zone.
I became the singer; I became the storyteller. I belted out the words. And I listened as the tambura produced its magic. Damn, that tambura.
This isn’t the only song that gets me in this zone. There are many. MANY. Most are Croatian.
I haven’t figured out why that is.
Maybe that’s a story for another post.
Or maybe someone reading this can illuminate me and share their thoughts.
Maybe I will Google it.
For now, I will leave you with one of the Croatian songs that transformed me into a melodramatic singer/storyteller who wishes she had learned to play the tambura.
“Music . . . can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”
Just because you do it that way in your country, doesn’t mean we do it that way here.
A lesson in cultural awareness through coffee.