Rediscovering Old Loves

I am the type of person who will listen to almost all types of music. I love rock & roll, pop, country, jazz, classical, R&B, etc. With the exception of rap and hip hop (though I sometimes enjoy listening to these) there really isn't a genre of music that I dislike. Recently, however, I have been getting tired of all the new cookie-cutter music with synthesized notes playing in the background. I've spent the past few months rediscovering real music and I can't believe all the music I've been ignoring for whatever is on the radio. Of course I'm listening to the big names of the oldies like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Lynard Skynard, Boston ... I could go on forever. Over the course of the year I got to see a tribute band of CCR and my family and I went to see the Steve Miller Band in concert! I love listening to music from the 60s and 70s, it's the only music I listened to for the first ten years of my life! But more recently, I've been obsessing over some familiar voices that sometimes slip my mind. Rob Thomas' style of music is, to me, timeless. He's best known for his work in the 90s and early 2000s and was a part of the band Matchbox Twenty. My favorite song he sings is "Lonely No More" which I am always caught singing everywhere I go. It's catchy and fun and I can hear actual instruments being played in the background. Also, he wrote the song "Smooth" which was sung by Carlos Santana which I can't help but belt out every time I hear it. I had forgotten these songs until around April and since then, I haven't gone two days without listening to these songs. My other infatuation of the moment is none other than Tom Jones. No matter what I do, I cannot get his voice out of my head. He has arguably one of the best voices in history and I just can't listen to him enough. About a month ago, I was in the car with my dad when the song "Green, Green Grass of Home" came on, and I was stunned by the beauty of the singer's voice. While the song and voice sounded familiar, I could not get over how amazing it was. Between the beauty of his voice and the sentiment of the song, I was utterly humbled. A few days later, I heard the song "She's a Lady" and noted that the singer of this song sounded a lot like Tom Jones...oh wait, IT IS TOM JONES! I didn't even realize that this amazing voice was behind another song that I knew. It didn't take long for me to realize that Tom Jones was actually incredibly famous and notably one of the best voices in history. Then this past weekend, I turned the TV on to a showing of the Queen's Jubilee and singing his heart out on the screen at age 72 was the oh-so-talented Tom Jones, still one of the best voices I've ever heard. Since hearing "Green, Green Grass of Home" a month ago, I've learned that he sings a number of other songs I know such as "It's not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat". Tom Jones may be my new favorite singer, even though he is far from "new" to the rest of the world. I love rediscovering old things that I may have forgotten and finding that I actually like it more now than I did then. Even though some music may have had its time and made way for new music, I find that going back and listening to that old song that you used to love is a great way to remember old things about yourself. You may have forgotten why you loved a song so much and listening to it again could help you remember. Sometimes, when I get sick of how everything is going right now, I go back and listen to old songs on my iPod to escape. Music, for me, is one of the best memory joggers and scape goats from reality, both of which I take full advantage of when I'm in need of a little change. By the time next year rolls around I may forget these people and be focusing on something else, but for the time being, Rob Thomas and Tom Jones are my best musical buds.