Can your own music make you cry?
by Joel Falconer
I once heard a great musician say that an artist’s finest works were those that brought even the creator to tears, and that they would live on forever in the hearts of those who experienced that art.
I guess it could be argued that a musician is truly making a clear expression of his state when he finds it difficult to listen to his own work, on the assumption that the piece isn’t particularly joyful. It can’t be to hard to listen to a frolicking staccato in C major, right?
Some measure this kind of success by the response of others, and look to see if their eyes mist up, but in my experience it truly is the creator’s tears that matter. Why? Simply because it’s a lot easier to invoke such an emotional reaction in others than in oneself.
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July 18th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I’ve heard ‘My Dying Mistress,’ and it is a song of love like no other you ever heard. Joel’s voice is an astounding instrument, with the catch of gravelly blues that will stir the rocks of the coldest hearts. The arrangement, the deep slow thud of the bass drum, like a heart struggling to find its beat…this is one of the songs of our time. Listen to it, pass it on. Talent like this will find a large audience.