I have heard the big music
And I’ll never be the same
— The Waterboys, The Big Music
I was looking for a song to play this morning and I thought about a favorite track from an album, A Pagan Place, from back in the 1980’s from the Irish group The Waterboys. I was surprised to discover that in the nearly 12 years I’ve been doing this blog that the song hasn’t somehow surfaced.
The song is The Big Music and it’s about hearing a song or piece of music that just opens you up. Shakes up your whole world and changes how you see everything in it. Maybe even alters your whole life’s path.
It’s a song that really speaks to me. Growing up in the country at a time before digital broadcasts, satellite television and streaming services, we had two TV channels so reading and listening to music filled the void for a kid who was eager to learn about the world. In retrospect, I realize now how fortunate I was.
We had a big box of singles from the late 50’s and early 60’s that had been assembled by a cousin and somehow ended up with us when he went into the Army. It had tons of good stuff including early rock from Elvis, lots of surf music from the likes of Jan and Dean and the Surfaris, goofy novelty songs, and lots of pop chart hits that feel pretty dated today, such as Heart from Kenny Chandler, a song I listened to hundreds of times back then.
Plus, my sister was an avid music fan so there were always plenty of early Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan singles on the record player. That first ringing chord of A Hard Day’s Night still thrills me in the same visceral way that I remember feeling as a kid.
Through those formative years, there were plenty of songs that hit me hard and opened up the world for me in small ways. Too many to list, actually. But I don’t know that I can mark one song that was that single defining moment. The Big Music for me.
Well, maybe it was from the first time I saw Springsteen back in 1977. The show and sound was unlike any other concert I had seen up to that point. I wrote about that show in a 2015 blog entry that mentioned the effect from his dramatic performance of the Animals‘ It’s My Life had on me.
That song and performance changed a lot of things with repercussions that still echo through my life.
When I think about it, I doubt that I would be writing this today without that song at that moment.
So, I guess that would be my Big Music moment. I wonder if everyone has a Big Music moment? Or maybe it is a book or a movie or piece of art that seemed to change them in a significant way.
Here’s the song, The Big Music, from The Waterboys.
This post ran back in 2020. I was tired this morning and, to be honest, just felt like hearing and sharing this song. The fact that there was already a blogpost about it was a bit of serendipity. Sitting here in the early m0rning dark of a cold Sunday morning, a little serendipity feels like a king’s ransom.
Certainly more than I had expected. That’s always good enough for me.
Redtree Times 
I read your Springsteen concert story. How lucky you were! By comparison, my first concert was Bread in Omaha lol.
By far, the music of John Denver touched me profoundly, and after vacationing many times to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, and more, I was eventually lured west more permanently to Wyoming over 12 years ago. I give John credit for pushing me in that direction, along with a wildlife photographer by the name of Tom Mangelsen, who I’ve met 3 times so far. His work inspired me to take up nature photography. My first photo trip after photography school was to central Nebraska to photograph the spring crane migration on the Platte River. Tom grew up there and his friendship with Jane Goodall led to the creation of a limited edition photograph of sandhill cranes in Nebraska that they both signed…and I somehow got lucky enough to acquire one that now hangs on my wall!
Back to John… I did see him twice in concert, once in Denver and again in Kansas City. Somewhere I have a cassette tape of the one in Denver that I secretly recorded. I acquired those two tickets in Vail, CO from a clerk in a music store who wasn’t able to attend. I was in heaven when I scored those tix! That was 1987 during an 18 month stint in Cheyenne, and I was on my first camping trip…solo! I still have my photo album and journal from that trip.
I could go on, but I should probably do so on my own blog lol. But aren’t we blessed to have been so inspired by such great people.
Enjoy your day!
Thanks for sharing your John Denver experience as well as that of you photographing the sand hill cranes. I Have actually been meaning to write about John Denver, specifically about his time with the Chad Mitchell Trio in the 3 or 4 years before bis solo career took off with the songs we all know and love from him. I came across the song below that featured Denver and it cracked me up. A lot of folk groups in the 60’s sang satirical songs like this but having John Denver on it was the chef’s kiss. Thanks, again, Patty. SAnd feel free to go on as long as you want!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhgcC5dYkE
Haha, you’re too kind. I can get pretty long-winded if I’m not careful. I look forward to reading what you have to say about John and the Trio. Did you mean to attach a link to the song you mentioned?
Yes, for some reason the link showed up on my administration page but didn’t show up on the post itself. I think it is fixed now/
What a clever song! No doubt a new version will be written in the future, hopefully with less horror behind it. Thank you for sharing.
No doubt, indeed.
I love John Denver. We would sing all his songs on the bus going to basketball games in college. I saw his sing at Madison Square Garden. I had a camera with a telephoto lens and a man wanted to buy my pictures but I declined. It broke my heart when he died.
Yes, that was a tragedy. I think he is sometimes overlooked these days but he wrote so many great songs that I think his work will live on for generations to come.
Oh, lucky you!
I played and sang his music constantly in high school and beyond. I was driving thru town when I heard the news and just sobbed. Years later I visited the memorial park dedicated to him in Aspen. I may have an opportunity to do so again this year or next.
I don’t have a big music moment, although I do have specific songs that recall specific times in my life: and by times I don’t mean extended periods, I mean discrete experiences. Doing the mental inventory, I came up with these: Simon and Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter,” Fleetwood Mac’s entire Rumours album, Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” Enya’s “Orinoco Flow,” and Cale and Clapton’s version of “Ride the River.” I return to them all, time after time.