photo by 久留米市民 (Kurume-Shimin)

Last Saturday night my family enjoyed an exciting 10-inning Oakland A’s baseball game followed by a spectacular fireworks show set to the music of the local San Francisco Bay Area band, Journey. Despite having had an awesome time, I admit to getting grumbly when it was late, and we found ourselves behind a solid mass of people before even getting onto the long ramp from the Oakland Coliseum to the BART (train) station. Plus, I had an exhausted boy hanging onto me.

We were slowly starting to walk when suddenly the familiar sounds of Journey’s music were in the air again. Not far in front of us a man was holding a small amp connected to a phone, strutting to the beat. Directly in front of us another man started singing and dancing with infectious joy. A woman beside him began belting out the words, and soon we were part of a large chorus of people slowly bopping our way across the ramp singing as we went. My nine-year old son had a grin on his face as he held my hands and danced backwards.

When we’d made our harmonious way across the ramp and reached the ticket machines, the music stopped. My son looked up at me and said, “Those people really made the world a better place.”

Music is amazing in its ability to shift a mood, to touch our hearts and spirits, and in its sheer sometimes quiet and sometimes powerful beauty.

Thank you, musicians. Thank you composers. Thank you, bringers of music.