Why do you like music?

[Moonshroom]

To me, it all comes down to the revitalizing fact that somewhere, sometime and in some language, someone might be giving birth to my new favorite song. Or maybe my new favorite band is being formed right now, as I write this. The simple idea that there's still awesome music to be heard fills my heart with a joy I cannot easily explain.

And I love the fact that everything has the potential to be a hit with you or me, because music speaks to each person individually and thus there are no rules and no standards.

I like Suzanne Vega's incredibly chill tones with the same exact passion that resonates through me whenever I sit through Within Temptation's grandiose, opera-like performances. And I have the same boundless admiration for Sita rocking my world, then quietly deciding that music was not for her that I have for Avril Lavigne coming out of nowhere and deciding that music was her entire being.

Whether it is Roxette's eternal youth or Fall Out Boy's hymns to being young, I dig it all.

From poison to bubblegum, from broken hearts to sugar and saccharine nonsense... if I'm in any particular mood that needs to be addressed, then I know that the song that slays that dragon exists somewhere. I just have to find it. And in the thrill of that endless chase rests my very reason for loving music.

What's yours?

[MamaFrankie]

What's yours? Thanks, I'll have a Jack Daniel's!

Seriously, I like music because of what it conveys to me lyrically. It speaks to me on many levels. As a lyricist myself, I write the stuff that I personally would like to hear.

[Velocity Girl]

This might sound like I'm exaggerating, but it's simple, music makes me alive, and I don't think I can't live without it! Sometimes when I'm sad or depressed, I'd be like "oh it would probably be better if I die right now" but then I remember that there's still so much great music that I haven't heard yet, and I don't wanna miss out on that. I'm always like, I wonder what band I'll be obsessed to next. 

Different aspects of music inspire me; the bands, the singers, the lyrics, the sound, they somehow shape me for who I am today. I can say that I wouldn't be who I am today without music playing a part in it. And if music were a person, I probably would've been married to them.

[Jarkko]

It goes beyond explanation, especially given my love of intricate music, whether instrumental or vocal.

I mean, sometimes I'm in the same boat as Mama where it's the lyrics that hit me, and it doesn't just have to be Christian for this to happen, although given my beliefs, it often is. 

And this isn't always purely emotional. Sometimes it's a track that makes me think too. Something that engages my brain and my emotions through the lyrics is sure to be a favourite of mine, which is why I like bands like Becoming The Archetype, Pantokrator, and other such bands. I love concept albums for this reason as well, albums that tell a story across the entire album. Even something like Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, which isn't a true concept album but is basically a "living eulogy" of sorts for Syd Barrett because of his complete deterioration of mental health, coupled with a scathing commentary of the music industry. Dark Side Of The Moon has that character to it too. Duke by Genesis does to a degree as well. And then you have full-blown concept albums like BTA's The Physics of Fire, Celestial Completion, I Am, and Children of the Great Extinction, Fear Factory's Obsolete, Pantokrator's Marching Out Of Babylon, and so forth. There are individual songs that have that effect on me as well. "Mad Mad World" by Tom Cochrane, "Mindphaser" and "Plasticity" by Front Line Assembly, half of Bruce Cockburn's singles catalogue, the entirety of Dichotomy by BTA (my favourite album of all time, not a proper concept album), certain early U2 songs (most notably "New Year's Day"), "Zombie" by The Cranberries, "Avarice" by Earth Groans, "Beyond The Grave" by Impending Doom, "Fal$e Teacher$" by Shai Linne... I could go on for a very long time were I to list them all.

But then there's also instrumental music, and it's so easy to just lose oneself in all the patterns, the perceived emotions, of a well-written piece of instrumental classical music, symphonic electronica, or even instrumental rock or metal with a good solo or two. This is where I can't really explain why I love it as much as I do. I just smegging do.  And I have no problem listening to a piece of instrumental music and letting my mind become an internal movie screen.

Music has always been an integral part of my life and probably always will be. I was a church organist in my teen years, I played bass clarinet in the HS band (with occasional forays onto the synthesizer, the timpani, or pitched percussion), and I did private keyboard/organ lessons in my teens and early 20s which I still benefit from to this day. I still compose, too. But I won't plug that here - I already have a thread for that elsewhere.

[Reyzadren]

There's a music/song for everyone. It's for one to find it, or make it oneself. Mix and match, customise the soundscape.

Also, to meet other cool people to play/hear it together.

[Moonshroom]

Awesome answers, my rocking dudes! 

[JHG]

Because it gives me different atmospheres and lets me visualize things happening.

[LadyJirachu]

It’s good for sorting my emotions and has probably kept me calm a lot

[Shiny Star]

It keeps my sanity. I often overthink or my thoughts go dark but music offers a way for my brain to snap out of it or for me to sink in with my emotions. I also like it when I am travelling somewhere as it fills boredom. Just a beautiful way of expression and community.

[LadyJirachu]

Music is also really cool