I listen to music everyday.  Either over the web, on my ipod, the radio, or cd player, songs are streaming my way and I wade in them to balance out my day.

I recently wrote an article about male friendships and how to look closely at media types (television, film, comics, video games, and music) to see if some types offer men greater permissions to express their emotions.  This is having both the means and ease to express one’s emotions with greater depth and honesty and to share these with a receptive audience.

Imagine a video game character or tv celebratiy saying the following:

I never meant to hurt you, no / And you never meant to hurt me to / But it seems like you always do / And even though i'm scared sometimes / If ever see you fallen down / I will be the one that's there for you /

So i let go of a broken heart / I let go to an open heart / I let go of my broken dreams / I let go to the mystery / And i believe in the miracles / I believe in the spiritual / I believe in the one above / I believe in the one i love / & take one step closer to you

('One Step Closer to You' by Michael Franti)

Which musicians or bands speak your emotional language?

I’d be curious to get a group of guys together after they’ve picked out a song that rattles their emotional cage, even just a bit.  We could just sit and listen to each guy’s song and if he wanted to he could talk about why he picked it.  Maybe it’s the lyrics or maybe the sound, tone, or rhythm of the instruments and voices.  I’d just want to share these songs as a way to hear and validate each other.  Isn't talking about emotional expression cool?  i think so.

For me, high school was marked with The Smiths, The Police, R.E.M. and U2 with a little Bruce Springsteen.  It’s not easy to locate which singers resonate with me now, party because I listen to so many and partly it’s just a little vulnerable.  But there’s the typical group of singer-songwriters like Bon Iver, Jens Lekman, and Elvis Perkins; the more hip-hop types like K-OS and Michael Franti; a mix of classic John Lennon, Steve Perry, Cat Stevens, Marvin Gaye, and Bobby Womack, the melting pot of The National, Justin Timberlake (yes it's true), and The Editors; and always the un-categorization of Thom Yorke and Radiohead.

Of course some songs just feel good because they match my political and playful needs, but this is emotional expression too isn’t it?

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Paul is a media educator and organizer.  He does workshops with GlobalAware Independent Media on issues of consumerism, war & peace, water, media democracy, and masculinity.