The Power of Music

We heard the sad news this week that Brian Wilson passed away. It of course was not totally unexpected. He battled a lot of health issues his whole life, including mental health issues and depression.  He was a fragile, creative genius who fought so many demons , yet the power of his music is that even from despair, he spread such love and joy.

It got me to thinking of the power of music itself. I first heard the Beach Boys growing up in Rochester, New York, never having set foot on the California beaches that he talked about in his lyrics.  Yet even in the middle of a Rochester, New York snowstorm, I could listen to his music and feel the sun on my face, the sand on my toes and dream of surfing… not even knowing how to swim.

His songs were mostly filled with optimism, fun and the promise of eternal summer. I sprinkled my teenage scrapbooks with images of California beaches, surfboards and boardwalks.  I had never been on the West coast, but it did not matter, the music took me there. When I finally did step foot on Southern California sands , it was the Beach Boys’ soundtrack playing in my head that made it seem familiar and at home.

His songs were not always “Fun, Fun, Fun”. There were waves of loneliness and fear in such lyrics as “In my room…I do my dreaming and my scheming…lie awake and pray…do my crying and my sighing.” As a teen I could listen to those words and feel the powerful comfort that someone else understood .

But most of all the music transported me then and now to a happy place.  Brian Wilson wrote many of his songs when he no doubt was not in a “happy place”at all. Yet even in the midst of his darkness , he gave the world joyous sounds of love, joy and sheer fun, leaving us with a smile no matter what the season. And that is his lasting brilliant musical gift to  us…good vibrations always and endless summer.

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