Words; words in the air, words on paper, words on the radio. Our whole life is dominated by the things we say. You can say what your faith is, establishing faith with a sound. You can say what you want, matching syllables and pitches to a feeling, or a need. “Language is the liquid that we're all dissolved in. Great for solving problems, after it creates a problem.” (Modest Mouse- blame it on the Tetons) And boy howdy, the problems are everywhere. For example, that whole sticks and stones bullshit, really who said that? I’m still recovering from verbal trauma I received as a child. And how many times do you hear someone smart off, or mumble under their breath, followed by a sassy “what did you just say to me?”
These words that we are taught, from the beginning of our lives are silly. I understand that we need to communicate and all, but I really think god got it right with the bats. They can just vibrate what they want to say, that’s what I want to do. Vibrate my feelings right in your face.
Now, I obviously can’t mean all this. Here I am posting my words to strangers on the internet. But people do that every day. What I’m trying to get at is the intimacy of words. I know we can express our feelings through touch, but what about “I love you”? How does that make you feel? Or “I hate you”, I would take a roundhouse kick to the face over hate, any day. Now words combined with music? Song is a completely different animal. I have wept, I have laughed, I have been made angry, and I have found peace, because of song.
Specific lyrics have spoken to my soul in unimaginable ways, whether it was helping me discover what my feelings or intentions were, or letting me know that I’m not alone. And that’s where the intimacy of words comes in. How can someone, whose face I wouldn’t recognize, touch me in such a profound way? I prefer the think back on those vibrations, maybe we do have them. Maybe we just don’t feel them. Like pheromones, they just bring us together.
