I have grown up listening to all sorts of different styles of music, however for all of the listening that I have done I never really became a fan of music. I know its a weird thing to say, but everyone has their thing and music just wasn't really one of mine. I enjoy listening to music, and it is something that I always turn to to fill the empty air if I have nothing else around me. But I never understood music. I was required to take a music class in junior high when I moved back east and I practically failed horribly. I passed barely but only because I have a very good memory for patterns and puzzles. I ended up looking at the keyboard as a game of memory. I knew that if there was a note on a certain line or in the space between two lines that it would be the key in "that place" on the keyboard. I was able to hit the right notes but I never learned to understand the music. Today I feel that maybe that it was caused me to not really care. I mean yes I have a favorite band, I like going to concerts and listening to the music live, but there is still something missing for me. I have learned to love music based on memories the songs coincide with. I love La Grange by ZZ Top because I remember listening to it when I was skating and it was the song that was playing when I landed my double axel for the first time. I love all things Green Day because that was what I used as an escape and it was how I rebelled against my coaches, playing Long View at 3am free style sessions just because it was there to play. I like loud music when I'm driving because I can roll down all the windows and crank up the volume and only have me, the road, and the sound of the lyrics to distract me from whatever else is going on in my life at that time. Music has become a basic escape for me, but while watching It Might Get Loud I saw something that connected with me one a much deeper level.
I have been surrounded by artists all my life. Art like sketches, paintings, mosaics, graphic arts, graffiti, to the art I did in my own form through dance and figure skating. In high school I made friends with "the band". Well, my friends that were in various bands that played local shows. I have complete respect and appreciation for musicians even though I do not understand it the way I understand other forms of art. I loved going to their shows and watching in aw as they played, but still there was something missing. Listening to Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page talk about music and what it is to them, their experience and evolution through it amazed me. It Might Get Loud is a brilliant documentary that enlightens and inspires through the story of what music is and was to these men. It goes through music and the history of its evolution in a very detailed way that shows how much blood, sweat, tears, and love is actually put into it. But there is one scene that caught the spirit and soul of these men and made you realize just how much respect and influence artist of whatever caliber have on one another and it reminded me of the way I used to feel about dance and figure skating which has now transitioned into the way I feel about filmmaking.
About half way through the film you see the three men sitting around on stand just playing along with one another. Watching these men play together and then when Jimmy starts playing on his own there is a look in Jack and The Edge's eyes that was caught on camera that shocked me. In that moment you were shown just how much admiration and respect these artists had for one another. Seeing that look in their eyes touched me and made the whole film that much more relevant. It was the story of the one things that means so much to these people in the same way that if someone asked me to talk about film, I would probably sound a lot like these men. The expression on their face was probably the exact same expression I had on my face when I was sitting in the back of a small room set up as a studio listening to Francis Ford Coppola about his filmmaking. It was a beautiful moment caught that will forever live in this documentary.
If you are a lover of music I would definitely recommend watching It Might Get Loud. If, like myself, not so much than just to hear these men talk about music and listening to them playing together it is well worth the time and experience. It's nice to see musicians of their status with years of experience that can show that level of humility when there are so few these days that are that humble. It is truly a beautiful and wonderful documentary. And don't forget to check out the deleted scenes because there is some additional footage that will blow your mind.
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