Radio W-YOU

Hey Comrades!

When's the last time you've had a cheese sandwich? I'm eating one right now, and man is it good!

I wonder how many people have independently invented such a glorious creation. It must be a very high number, indeed.

Which brings me to the topic of today's conversation.

I'm not sure if I read it somewhere, or just came up with it, but did you ever think that we're all like radios? Let me explain. I'm a huge classical music fan. I've been ever since I was a little kid, when my dad taught me a lot about it. Sometimes I'll be listening to the local station, and send him a text like "Dvorak 9th on now!" I'll get a text back "2nd movement? Is that a flute or English horn?" "Nah, I missed it!"

We both are obviously listening to the same station, and hear what it's broadcasting.

Now, what if each of us had our own "radio station" of sorts, and we were the only receiver in the universe? What if we each had a unique frequency that we could listen to? Some of us are tuned to the jazz station, others the rock show, and man, some days, I feel like I've definitely got a talk show!

Beethoven had one, and it was playing the 9th symphony. Ozzy's broadcasted "Crazy Train."

Here's the funny thing - absolutely no one else can translate the frequency into music. Only the person "tuned in" to their own radio can.

Now here's the scary thing - If nobody else gets that song out there, it dies with the person. For you see, there was nothing inevitable about the Moonlight Sonata, Purple Haze, or Take Five. They never had to be written. A cheese sandwich may be reinvented every day, calculus may be formulated, and the laws of the universe discovered, but it's almost as if they were there to start with, simply waiting to be found. Now, that's not to scoff at Newton, Einstein, or me, Mr. Cheese Sandwich inventor (real man of genius), but an artistic creation is different in the fact that it's not inevitable.

As you see, it's important to listen to your radio.

And it's paramount that you don't let anyone turn it off.

People will try to do this surprisingly often. Why, I'm not sure, but especially with the anonymity of the Internet, they can hide behind avatars and snipe most viciously. With the whole world being wired, it almost seems that people are even starting to confuse the real world for Facebook. As a matter of fact, I caught myself talking as if I was online the other day.

Unsolicited opinions especially seem to jam our signals, but recognize the gravity of a station signing off the air - that music is gone forever. Sometimes we can take things philosophically and in stride. Sometimes we need propaganda. This is just another reason why I'm pleased that the Revolution isn't a democracy! Ha!

This radio example isn't just for musicians. It's for any and every person on the planet. What is your station playing right now?

Turn it up,

-Josh