Music makes you feel happy you’re alive

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

– William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night –

In my humble opinion, Matt Corby is a living legend. He is also the closest thing I have ever heard the legendary Mr Jeff Buckley, who immortalised Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah with his own very special version.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to Matt by a very good friend of mine (Mr Ben Levy) one day when we were driving together. He was giving me a lift to a place where I would be cat sitting in Manly for a friend of theirs for a week or so over the Christmas period (Dec 2011). We were listening to Triple J (an awesome alternative radio station in Australia) and just as we pulled up to the house, Matt Corby’s ‘Brother’ came on. He told me that I needed to listen to him, so we sat in the stationary, parked car and listened to the entire song all the way through. I was blown away, and that was the day that I fell in love with his voice and his music. Captivating, mesmerizing and very beautiful.

I then started to read up a little about him and realised that he had taken the number 3 spot (behind Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know at 1 and The Black Key’s ‘Lonely Boy’ at 2) of Triple J’s hottest 100 in 2011 for Brother. Later in 2012 I went to see him play at the Metro in Sydney with Ben’s girlfriend’s sister, Sabrina. We had a blast and both drooled over him and his music all night. A month or so later I was lucky enough to score tickets to see him play at Cockatoo Island in Sydney and took another girlfriend. It was an electric night and his music electrified the island. Truly fantastic.

Which brings me to now. Darren and I went to see him at the iconic and eponymous Enmore Theatre on Friday night and he kicked ass. His voice sounded as stunning as usual, at times so smooth it could melt butter and others so raw you could feel the emotion that was in him when he wrote the song.

His music is (in my humble opinion) a blend of Jeff Buckley’s voice, with the earthy rawness of Mumford & Sons and I just stumbled across a recording of the last song that he played (My False) to demonstrate, just how brilliant he is live. The entire venue lit up when he played this, and it was just the most perfect way to end his set.

He recently spent a while in the UK with Mumford & Sons, and he is also signed to Ben Lovett’s record label, Communion, so you can see that there is a definite influence from them in this song.

Today’s post is about how music can make you feel happy you’re alive, and Matt’s music makes me feel happy that I am alive to listen to it and witness it live. Is there music that makes you feel like that in your life? If so, fill it with more of it!

Inspiration for this post

Matt Corby live at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney – My False

Matt Corby – Brother

Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah

There is no good or bad

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

– Shakespeare, Hamlet –

As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts (like Take responsibility for your life), we are in complete and utter control of our lives. What we think, we become and depending on what we choose to focus on, good or bad, will determine what we create in our lives.

For some people this is a little confronting, as they perhaps believe that we are not indeed in control of our own destinies, but I can promise you, that we are.

So, if there is something in your life that you’re not happy with, stop focussing on what you don’t want, and start to focus on what you do want. Stop focussing on what you don’t have, otherwise you will continue to be given more of it, and rather decide what you would like to have. For example, a new more fulfilling job, a happier, loving relationship with your partner, friend or family member, a trip out to the countryside, taking up a new hobby, the list is endless . . . .

Quite simply, every experience in life is neutral, we just decide in every single moment whether we want it to be good or bad, based on the thoughts that we think. And as quickly as we can decide that something is rubbish, perhaps it’s started raining, or you’ve missed your bus. In that same moment, you can choose to see the silver lining and turn the situation into something good. For example, you can choose to throw on some wellies (or gum boots for the Aussies and Kiwis) and jump around in the puddles, or by missing a bus it might mean that you can have a nice conversation with a stranger while you wait for the next one.

One thing that I sometimes do if I am getting overwhelmed by things in my life that seem to be bad, is make a list of them and number each one. And then for every thing that is bothering me, I will find a silver lining or solution to each of them, so I can resolve them or let them go completely. After all, there is no good or bad, only thinking makes it so. All you have to decide is what you want to look for.

Inspiration for this post

Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The Gumboots Song – You Tube video