Recently I met a fellow worker, his name is Dave he's in his late 30's early 40's Id say, and Ive seen him before and I even filled in for him once, but I never really talked to him much. But what I do know is that all his life he has been pretty much stone deaf, he had about 10% of his hearing ability, and sometime in the last 6-8 months he had a surgery to help restore his hearing, what he got was an implant put in his brain and now he has 70% of his hearing ability. Talking to him I can tell he loves two things Hockey and Music, because thats all he talks about really, which was cool by me, because I share the same feelings. I asked him what bands he liked and named a bunch of bands: Led Zeppelin, Stones, The Hip, The Doors and alot of others, and his response to pretty much all of them was heard of them but never heard them. It was hard to comprehend someone not ever hearing Zeppelin and a whole bunch of other great bands that most of us have come to love over time. So the last couple months he's been listeining to music like crazy and trying to catch up to all of us, and his just blow away by what he's been hearing and learning, he even has taken up playing the guitar and paying for lessons. His favorites seem to be Pink Floyd, Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix (not too shabby). Last week I decided to help the guy out, I personally have a quite large music library at my disposal, I own over 500+ cd's and albums, spanning decades. So I asked him about the Hip and all he knew was that they were Canadian and that alot of people liked them, and thats pretty much common knowledge in these parts. So I made him an mp3. cd of 75 of the best songs The Hip has to offer. And ever since I made him that cd he has been over the moon with excitement, everday at work all you can hear from the front of the room is LET ME OUTTTTT! or THE HIP BABY!!!!! or HIP RULES!!! and the odd PINK FLOYD!! We've become friends now and sharing my music with this guy has been a rewarding and cool experience, seeing someone react to great rock songs of the past for the first time is pretty cool. He wants to see the Hip live bad, but since there is no tours scheuled at the moment, I thought Id shoot him some of my Hip DVD's and boots, so greatfully shared by my fellow Hipbasers, I figure that should hold him over for a while. After this I now appreciate my hearing ability more than ever. Keep it rocking loud Hipbase, for all to hear. :thumb:
LK.
That's a great story...I don't know what I would do if I ever went deaf. I have partial hearing damage in my right ear...I discovered this when I hurt my shoulder and had to switch arms to hold up my cell phone and I couldn't hear a thing...it kinda freaked me out.
The (phantom) Power of music!
joshwayy Wrote:That's a great story...I don't know what I would do if I ever went deaf. I have partial hearing damage in my right ear...I discovered this when I hurt my shoulder and had to switch arms to hold up my cell phone and I couldn't hear a thing...it kinda freaked me out.
The (phantom) Power of music!
That's a bummer, sorry to hear it. Hell knows Ive abused my eardrums quite a bit over the years, but Im more careful now of how I listen to my music, especially in the car, no more big systems for me. Ive grown out of that anyways.
Very, very cool Lizard...
Great story! Thanks for sharing.
:music
Yeah LK, very cool story. And well-told, too. You have most likely impacted his life in a way he never imagined possible and will never be able to fully express; you did an awesome thing! I know you didn't restore his hearing, but you've shared something with him that no one else has and that he's obviously enjoying.
Someone asked me once years ago if I had to lose my hearing or my eyesight, which would I choose. They and everyone else around at the time were aghast when without hesitation I said my eyesight. As crazy as it sounds to many people, I'm dead serious. I simply cannot imagine living without hearing music; silence would drive me insane. I'd rather be blind and functional than deaf and suicidally crazy.
Since you started this thread about sharing music, I'm compelled to share my own experience, but from the other side of the coin. Some time back, someone who's never met me and only knows me from my online presence asked me for my address so they could send me something they thought I might enjoy. I tried the polite "thanks but don't go to any trouble" response but they were insistent, even refusing to to accept anything in trade. One of my favorite novels has a subplot that included the notion that "the beauty of a gift is in the giving" and no matter how uncomfortable one may feel accepting such a gratuity, it is inappropriate to deny the giver the joy of giving. So I replied with my address.
When I opened the package I was shocked and amazed, not only by the three discs it contained, but that someone I'd never really met had given it to me. I literally sat open-mouthed, staring at it incredulously for several minutes before I gathered my wits enough to put one in and play it. It was a double disc high quality video and an audio CD of Queen's incredible performance on Christmas Eve 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon. I never knew it existed and while I already have practically every commercially released Queen video and DVD ever made, none compare to the raw power of this amazing band as they were poised to change the face of modern music forever. If you're not a Queen fan, imagine what it would be like to be gifted with an unkown video recording that included Blonde Solid and Get Back Again, or featured Davis Manning on sax. It's the stuff rock and roll dreams are made of.
I thanked the giver profusely but to this day, mere words will never convey the importance or impact of this one simple gift.
No one should ever underestimate the power of music. It really is a common language we all understand regardless of race, religion, politics, or any other seperative concept. It is the great unifier.