The Spiritual Significance Of Music

A simple message in a song to draw from; “Life is very short and
there’s no time for fussing and fighting…” [“We Can Work It Out” by The
Beatles]. There have been times where I pulled that piece of the song from the
back of my head as guidance to a better place. Nothing else would have gotten
me there as effectively, and I’m grateful for it. A good amount of songs I’ve
written came about by taking whatever was weighing heavy on my chest and
letting it in, facing it, and returning it to the world as something positive, a
way to help make sense of it all. It’s like paying it forward, giving the next
person a message to draw from when they might need it most. It’s a way you
connect, and connect to millions of people, all sharing that sense of being –
people from different generations, different cultures, different personality types
that would never have had any exchanges, but the music brings them
together. People forget their differences and are inspired and united. What is
music’s spiritual significance? It’s the ingredient that lifts us to a higher place,
it gets us through our darkest times, it frees us to express who we are, it
speaks for us when we can’t find the words, it connects us to each other and
creates a collective euphoria. Sound is the Almighty voice, music is the
language.

Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal
guitarist in Guns N’ Roses

Originally posted at http://www.xtrememusic.org/world/guns_n_roses.pdf

Review at: http://www.xtrememusic.org/reviews.html

"THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MUSIC is the kind of book that's good for everyone. Whether your relationship with music is as a music maker or an avid listener, open to any page and there's something that will inspire you. The words are grounding and stabilizing, uplifting and enlightening, and carry a message that can be applied to anything in life, not just music. It's a great pleasure to be part of this book, and I thank Justin St. Vincent for inviting me to join this diverse and talented group of contributors all sharing their stories, points of view, and a piece of themselves."

- Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, guitarist in Guns N' Roses