Feels like I’ve been buried yet I’m still alive
It’s like a bad day that never ends
I feel the chaos around me
A thing I don’t try to deny
I’d better learn to accept that
There are things in my life that I can’t control
Phoenix is a Grammy award winning French Alternative Rock band from Versailles founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d’Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz (*full lyrics and video below)
Today is the beginning of National Music Therapy Month in Canada. Heavy in the news is the story of Senator Giffords and how music therapy is a part of her rehabilitation program as she recovers from a severe gun shot wound.
Although the PR for music therapy has been wonderful, we are reminded that recovering in such a public forum must be difficult – a recovery that by all accounts could take many more weeks, years, if not a lifetime.
There are many ways music can assist us during our rehabilitation process regardless of the severity or amount of time for total healing. It can motivate us to move forward even through the bleakest of times. For anyone who has suffered any physical or psychological set back (that has lasted longer than a week) you know how frustration, feelings of isolation and depression can set in. Once we are unable to go about our day to day activities life can lose some of its luster. Music is one tool that you may want to consider to help you cope – even a little better.
The key to effectively using music is to bring it into the foreground and use it with intention.
Take a moment to imagine yourself at the end of a stressful day (for some of us we don’t have to go back too far in history to do that) and you have just arrived at home. You soon realize you are all alone and you are grateful as you want to just sit in your favourite place and unwind. Imagine that place and how you feel while you are sitting there (point A). You take a couple of deep breaths and begin to drift off when all of a sudden you remember you have a critical appointment and need to change your clothes and be out of the door in 45 minutes (point B).
Question of the week: What music would help you move from point A to point B?
Music that motivates, inspires first – it has little to do with tempo, or tone…it has to do with the emotional state it evokes helping us move into action.
Whatever style of music or specific song you have selected ensure it is a part of your music collection for the next time you need a boost…and that doesn’t just include people undergoing rehab it may also be for those who are feeling the winter blahs, procrastinating on a deadline or wanting to move forward with an uplifted mindset.
*They say an end can be a start
Feels like I’ve been buried yet I’m still alive
It’s like a bad day that never ends
I feel the chaos around me
A thing I don’t try to deny
I’d better learn to accept that
There are things in my life that I can’t control
They say love ain’t nothing but a sore
I don’t even know what love is
Too many tears have had to fall
Don’t you know I’m so tired of it all
I have known terror dizzy spells
Finding out the secrets words won’t tell
Whatever it is it can’t be named
There’s a part of my world that’ s fading away
You know I don’t want to be clever
To be brilliant or superior
True like ice, true like fire
Now I know that a breeze can blow me away
Now I know there’s much more dignity
In defeat than in the brightest victory
I’m losing my balance on the tight rope
Tell me please, tell me please, tell me please…
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
Hang on to the good days
I can lean on my friends
They help me going through hard times
But I’m feeding the enemy
I’m in league with the foe
Blame me for what’s happening
I can’t try, I can’t try, I can’t try…
No one knows the hard times I went through
If happiness came I miss the call
The stormy days ain’t over
I’ve tried and lost know I think that I pay the cost
Now I’ve watched all my castles fall
They were made of dust, after all
Someday all this mess will make me laugh
I can’t ewait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait…
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
It’s like somebody took my place
I ain’t even playing my own game
The rules have changed well I didn’t know
There are things in my life I can’t control
I feel the chaos around me
A thing I don’t try to deny
I’d better learn to accept that
There’s a part of my life that will go away
Dark is the night, cold is the ground
In the circular solitude of my heart
As one who strives a hill to climb
I am sure I’ll come through I don’t know how
They say an end can be a start
Feels like I’ve been buried yet I’m still alive
I’m losing my balance on the tight rope
Tell me please, tell me please, tell me please…
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
If I ever feel better
Remind me to spend some good time with you
You can give me your number
When it’s all over I’ll let you know
Jennifer Buchanan is the happy owner of JB Music Therapy, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011. Our “Music Speaks” Blog: 50 Musical Motivators for 2011 (MMs) aims to Help you Relax, Reflect and Remember what you Value Most