You Could Be In Pictures

Ever notice how a soundtrack can make a good film a great one? How music in film can create tension, fear, elation? How a story can be advanced with soaring strings, dissonant chords, or the ominous rhythms warning us of an approaching great white shark? How music heightens our fear as the knife-brandishing stalker moves through the dark house? (Turn on the lights, you fool!) How music seems to increase the speed and excitement of any chase scene? How a love song, growing in volume as the couple on screen finds each other at long last, can make your heart dance and your eyes tear?

Sure you have. Music is one of the great things about film.

Ever notice, though, that the players on camera never hear the music? Seems like a missed opportunity. Because if they heard what we hear there would be far fewer shark victims and fewer people getting skewered in the dark. Characters would know sooner and with greater clarity who longs for them. Tragedy might be averted. Love might flourish. And while it would undoubtedly diminish the viewer's experience, it would help the characters on screen immeasurably.

Which brings me, at last, to the point: Where is our soundtrack? Where is the music that defines our life? Where's our playlist?

What music plays in the background as we move through the week, during our highs and lows? What music warns us of impending trouble or foreshadows upcoming joy? What music confirms the emotions behind a stranger's -- or co-worker's -- fervent glance? What music provides confidence and purpose to our gait? What music offers hope?

It's there. It's got to be there. We just can't hear it.

What a shame, too. Because we can all use the help a soundtrack would provide. We can all use guidance as we move headlong toward trouble. We can all use every clue we can get to make better decisions. We can all use the added joy, the increased confidence, the greater richness background music brings. We can all use more support. We can all use more romance, more love. Definitely more soul.

But unlike the movies, in real life we're left to our own devices. Which means, of course, that the soundtrack to our life is up to each of us. And I've started to assemble mine.

I leave you with a Bonnie Raitt tune and a Tower of Power medley that are part of my soundtrack. Crank up the volume, kick back and enjoy. And while you're dancing, ask yourself: What's in your soundtrack?

May this -- and every week -- be filled with great music that defines you.