In my entry yesterday I was initially going to say something completely different about music, but as I was writing the story "grew in the telling" and followed its own path about music through the ages. My original point got lost and I found no way to incorporate it into that personal essay. So I make my statement here instead.

While listening to music in the car, the coolest album by far was Classic Queen. Their music was incredibly diverse, not only from song to song but even within the songs. They constantly shifted from one musical movement to the next, never overusing any particular part to a song. Their songs had an evolution to them, a shift that turned into a buildup. The great thing about the buildups is that they led to a heck of a payoff with each song, not to mention that each song had a definite sense of beginning and end.

While writing my previous entry, I also listened to The Piano Guys play an amalgam of "Love Story" and "Viva La Vita". Again, there was change within the song, suggesting a story and a transition between two points. The coolest benefit of this, however, were the "A-ha!" moments. Most songs have only one signature "A-ha!" moment, that small portion that you hum that stands out. Because there was more than one main tune, this hybrid piece had at least two. There's all the more reason to come back to the song, and all the more reason to play it the whole way through, because with two "A-ha!" moments it comes closer to a work that can be admired for its entirety, not just an excerpt. Even the portions between the "A-ha!" moments become important parts to remember because they're no longer just filler but a part of the journey with a definite forward movement connecting the two peeks. Suddenly the song becomes more than just a piece of impressionism but a journey.

One of my favorite musical compositions of all time, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor demonstrates this to the extreme. The entire piece is nothing but journey, as it is constantly shifting and evolving until it finally builds up to a monolithic zenith. Yet, the parts in the middle are just as memorable as the iconic beginning and end, and there's no hurry to get to any particular part because every moment is a chapter. Put together, it's like an epic poem. To me, it's the theme music for music itself.

My favorite song, "American Pie", doesn't change much in tune throughout the song, but it is still an example of this idea of journey within a song because it changed in tone. The poetry blossoms into a saga of the changing times in America and Don McLean's life. Its chorus doesn't change, but the miniature songs in-between each refrain are stories in and of themselves, like installments to a series, and each is their own "A-ha!" moment. When the pieces are put together, it covers a story with a scope so profound that no part of the song is negligible, because to take one piece away is to render a hole in the chronicle. Each is fundamental to the song's identity.

So if I was a songwriter or musician, it would be an underlying philosophy to find a journey within my songs, whether through a change in tempo, tune, tone, or all of the above. What matters is that the entire song has to be important and not just the one "Ah-ha!" moment. If there's just the one, then the song is little more than just noise.