My Dave Matthews Band Obsession

     I love Dave Matthews Band. There’s nothing else quite like their lyrics and rocky celestial soundings. From the days that I knew not of love, neither self-finding, nor abysmal sadness, words that addressed such issues played in my mind as often as my inner monologue. I feel Dave Matthews’ voice is as familiar to me as my own because of that. My thoughts reflect that connection in the sense that my conceptual rationalizations and drawn penmanship are performed in the poetic approach that Dave Matthews Band has honed.

     When I am in love, songs such as “Two Step” and “Crush” play through my head. When sad, “#41” is all I hear. When in need of spirits and high hopes, an unconditional loving approach, or a way to hear my thoughts in musical form, Dave Matthews Band is what I turn to.

     Even now, I can tune out of reality to the song “Grey Street”, and hear it as I did when I was a child. The words do not make sense, but his voice carried through that saxophone arrives right at my core, and I feel the raw emotion that is brokenhearted.

     When I was a boy, I longed for the day when I could make sense of his words, so as to understand what I was feeling from his music. My attention to their music weakened a bit during high school, unfortunately. Right when I needed that music. Through my early love life I turned to alternative bands, which unsuccessfully guided me, in terms of giving understanding through my teary-eyed relationships. I felt the heartache. I found myself confused, and eventually turned to writing. I found my passion, and crafted sentences that rationalized my experiences, which later I would use to define said experiences.

     By nature of these actions, I began to create a world around me that had meaning in places it once had lacked. Now… to create your own reality so as to remain in symbols and beauty may be crazy. One's perception is what creates the universe before his/her eyes, and so… to edit my perception is to edit the world around me. To survive, I did it. To be happy, I did it. To be sad, I did it. To this day, I do it.

     Returning to Dave Matthews Band was not so much a hello after a goodbye, but more so a glance back to the direction I had sat and gazed at for so long. It hadn't changed, and it helped me find that sense of self again.

(My tattoo of the Dave Matthews Band symbol.)

P.S. My parents did a fine job by bringing my brother and I to Dave Matthews Band concerts when we were younger. That stage glows and so does the crowd.