#1 (A Musical Elegy)

During the first time that I wasn't intently listening for an elegy in musical form, I managed to hear one. Flipping through my iTunes, I stumbled across "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. This song simply sounds like an elegy, with its deep rises and falls in her voice, and the peaceful instrumental accompaniment. Of course, the lyrics also clue the listener in, especially with the repeated images of Heaven. I remember that this song always used to make me cry when I heard it on the radio. Very shortly after September 11th, I heard this song used as a backdrop for the famous words of the news stations and President during and after the events unfolded. The song became epic to me because it was used as a tribute to those lost in this tragedy. I know that many poems also became memorialized at this time for similar reasons. When writing my elegy, I found it very hard to pick the write words. I wanted to just splurt out whatever came to my head first when dealing with intense emotions, which, of course, would not have made an excellent poem. I think it is truly the most gifted poets, writers, and musicians that are capable of successfully writing such emotional pieces because they are able to express the emotion in a real way without hyperbolizing it. The talented expression of emotion makes "Angel" such a beautiful song.