Music is your only friend…*

On October 6th 2020, I read a headline I never thought I’d read, ever.  Losing Eddie Van Halen is profound.

There will never be another.

Many moons ago, I learned to SCUBA dive alone, and my Van Halen cassette tapes were my only friend, the soundtrack to my early ocean adventures.  Yes there were others in SCUBA class, but SCUBA is a buddy sport and I was very young with no buddies, friends or family to join me (most kids my age were doing sports or ironically music).  To each class and each dive was my music, Van Halen, and me.

When you gotta go:

The universe pulled me from my belly button to learn more about the ocean, so I had no option to wait for someone to join me, I had to go.  I was the youngest person in SCUBA training, solo, and I have fond memories of rocking out after classes and before early morning boat and beach dives to Van Halen.

In my early years, my bedroom walls were destroyed with glue and tape yet colorfully collaged in photos of Van Halen, mostly Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth.  They were flying, literally flying.  Beautiful, energetic and hey, their sound was epic.

They were big and bright and too loud and lively to ignore.  It was such an exciting time.

We all wanted Eddie’s red high top tennis shoes.

Eddie was TOTALLY hot.  Let’s face it.  He was gorgeous, smiling, enjoying his art and he rocked hard.   All the girls wished to be Valerie Bertinelli and though jealous we all learned to applaud her smart choice.

Today all broken hearts are with their son, families, and Michael Anthony too.  When those who have brought us great joy feel pain, it sucks.  We connect with the limelight when larger than life talent sadly experience the truths of life most everyone endures.

I think I only saw the original band together once at the US Festival.  I was young, shows were big and tickets were pricey.

Being an ocean lover, WHOA, when Van Halen released Diver Down, I felt as if it was encouraging me specifically.  I held the red and white album cover in my hands, “GO MICHELE GO GO GO!”

Music is the eternal motivator.   You know I’m a big fan of motivation 😉

Like many of us, early Van Halen was simply the soundtrack of our youth.  I didn’t understand until much later in life how spoiled we all were.  I didn’t get that Eddie Van Halen was a guitar demigod, created a unique sound, or spearheaded new techniques.  Those albums were just the motivating “crank it up” sounds of the time. (to learn more about Eddie technically, watch Rick Beato’s What Makes This Song Great Episode 22 and 61 on YouTube & the movie Blood Frets and Tears by Andrew Klein on Amazon/iTunes).

Noteworthy, today the importance of song order feels lost.  On a vinyl album, the order in which the songs appear and play is something I feel is forgotten with mp3s.  Early Van Halen albums MUST be appreciated with the songs in the order they were served up on those albums.

Nobody else will ever have that classic Van Halen sound.

Their first six albums are required music schooling:

Van Halen

Van Halen II

Women and Children First

Fair Warning

Diver Down

1984

What’s in a name?

In recent years, since I’ve taken up learning guitar, blessed with sachertorte in hand (and belly), I accidentally visited Mozart’s house in Vienna Austria.  While I was reading everything there, trying to assimilate some talent by osmosis, I mused about the Van Halens naming their son Wulfgang.  So brilliant.

Honorable mention – I’ll admit I favor the name Eddie too, like Eddie from Iron Maiden (a tale for another time).

Passion or practical?

Have you followed your heart?

Learning SCUBA was one of my best decisions ever.  Being a biology major allowed me to rationalize SCUBA diving, though a passion, as academic.

When I was a little girl I was pulled by music too, but I resisted my attraction.  My Sicilian grandfather was a professional musician, a mandolin and string playing troubadour, who gave me a guitar when I was a toddler but I never took lessons. (There weren’t that many female guitar icons in those days either.) That guitar was decorated for me with glued on sequins and butterflies.  I still have it.

Having always fed my practical education (biology, pre-med, engineering, then full circle to health/wellness) I ignored my musical pull until recently.  Today I imperfectly practice guitar and sing daily.  It’s a part of me now like gratitude, eating veg, working out and brushing my teeth.

My heart is full of energetic, driving, melodic and harmonized rock and roll.  Van Halen rooted much of that.

Zillions of us will never be pro or even good, but I’ll be better than yesterday, having fun, spreading love and understanding with my new creative art.

Legends like Eddie Van Halen plant creative seeds within us.  Reminding us that if we have a calling, we should answer.

What do we do when the music’s over*?

Losing Eddie Van Halen is the end of an era.  What a great time to be alive.  Holy sh*t, this is an unfathomable hit.

Last Call.

Health leads to energy leads to creativity.  Health is the heart of being a lifelong learner. We should listen to our hearts and answer our callings.  For me it’s making more noise, more music and more art.

We don’t have to be legends to be us.  We all have a unique voice and expression.  We can be better than we were yesterday.

We can honor the inspirational teachers we’ve been exposed to.  They spread their sparks and illuminated us.

Today our world needs more fun, energy and sunshine.

We can motivate ourselves and inspire others.

I toast to your art and contribution Eddie Van Halen.  What an honor to have lived during your time; sharing the globe with such a significant creative game changing hero who delivered the big bold fantastic soundtrack of our youth.

Bottoms up!

*When the music’s over, The Doors