In what seems to be a week (or maybe weak) of nostalgia related thoughts, I decided to share more with you lovely readers and expand upon yesterday’s post. This is especially cool for the local Edmonton crowd, but I of course think it will be rather relevant for my larger group of loyal international readers too.

Remember your first love?

We’ve all been there.

We all had an album we listened to over and over again, where loved ones were driven nuts by the first sound on the record.

But we were just kids, and we loved that artist or group so much it hurt.

They spoke to us personally. It was like they made the music just for us. Whether the songs were about fun, love, dancing, partying, breakups, anger, rebellion or general heartache. It was our music and we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Hi Fidelity has this line I think of whenever I get nostalgic for the past, and especially when I think about lost love and my first musical experiences.

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

The music that sticks with you is the album you choose yourself for the first time. And there’s a power to it. A kind of power that can purify or corrupt, so it’s important to nurture that relationship with your favourite music so that it empowers you and keeps you on your life path.

Ever heard of the love myth? There are tons of articles/videos on the subject if you haven’t, but I’ll let you take a look at this one if you need some help getting started/. Essentially the myth goes like this – love needs to be irrational, unique, random and always passionate. This myth perpetuates western culture like a virus.

But what the heck does this have to do with music, Tim?

Well, my point is that in many cases we are drawn to some music for a season and a reason, but it isn’t true companion based love. And I think that a lot of first love musical interests end up this way, unless you nurture the relationship properly.

Which is how I feel about The Offspring!

I’ve been a fan ever since I was given my first CD at 13 years old.

At the time, Pretty Fly For A White Guy was popular on the radio and in my crowd of friends. Living in Canada, I’ve been fortunate to have a mixed ethnicity group of friends wherever I go and no matter what I do, and when I was in junior high, I was the odd man out in my social circle. Suddenly being a white kid was strange and foreign, so one my friends bought The Offspring’s Americana for me as a birthday gift, and to reinforce this humility in me.

Little did he know, he was providing me with an outlet to exercise my interest in music beyond my parents and the typical fare on TV and the radio. A band that represented subversion, political ideas, raw feelings, and general satire. All of this further building my identity and belief system.

And so I slowly collected their back catalogue and also bought new albums upon release, all the while listening to other music too. Some of my music library looks weird today, and the mix of it all doesn’t really match or appear to be influenced one way or the other, but I’ve always had a fondness for punk rock music because of The Offspring.

Now for the timely part – I found out yesterday morning, mere hours before the presale went online, that The Offspring would be touring this year and that Edmonton is one of their stops on the circuit in March! I have to give full credit to my girlfriend, because she knows how much I love this band, and she was the one who heard about the show on the radio.

So what else could I do but purchase a membership pass to a presale code website? So that I could buy the tickets ahead of the regular crowd, just in case.

I’ve missed seeing this band previously because I wasn’t paying attention and made excuses for why I couldn’t afford it. That is no longer a valid excuse, so I am going this spring. And it will be awesome! Musical heroes are important, and at the root of who we are as people. They hold a special place in our hearts and can reinvigorate when we are feeling lost.

It might be a theory, but try it yourself. Listen to your favourite music when you are feeling off, and see what happens. Who are your musical heroes?  Leave some comments, and I’ll see you on Sunday friends!

Tim!