The Drama, Hilarity, and Insanity of Ouran High School

Chapter 14: The Music Production, and maybe a bit more than they bargained for..

The day of the music presentations, I was scared. Like, really scared. I couldn't seem to sleep the night before, so I had coffee flowing through my veins rather than blood, and I was starting to get a nervous shake that wouldn't go away in my hands. As the morning progressed, I couldn't help but notice the shake go further and further into my body, and at that point, I couldn't think of how bad it would be for me to have shaky hands while playing the piano. When I finally walked up to the front of the room, I was extremely grateful that my hands had stopped their shaking. The piano had been placed very close to the teacher's desk, and all of the desks had been pushed pretty much into a cluster to avoid tapping the piano with a wayward foot. I sat down, uncertain if I was supposed to begin until the teacher gave me a nod of her head. I began. "Why do I love music? Music is a choice. It's a lifestyle. It's something to give people purpose, even if they aren't sure what that purpose is. Music gives emotion, feeling, meaning to things that human beings cannot explain." as I spoke, I began to play a bit of a melancholy song on the piano, softly. "Music can represent that deep heart ache of a lost first love, the pain of living even though a piece of you is missing, and also that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you want something so badly that you could die for just a moment with that thing, and even though you see it every day, you cannot have it." I couldn't help but think of Hikaru whenI said this. And Kyoya. I'd lost that short love, and yet, now, it wouldn't feel right to have Hikaru to myself. I was positive I'd hurt him, and yet, I swung into a jazzy tune as I said, "Music can also be an outlet for the soul. When the soul wants to dance, the trumpets blare, the drums have a go and the tunes swing, just like in the 1920's-1930's America, where even though people were down on their luck, they could go to a speak-easy and dance and do as they pleased. The music was part of their path to happiness in dark times." I changed to an even happier tune as I progressed, and picked up with, "And another ability of music is the ability to make even the most down on their luck person get a little smile." I played a bit more of the happy tune and then moved on to Me and My Broken Heart, by Rixton. "Music is a way of expressing what you have going on in your head. It's a bit of a gamble as to what will come out of that head, but it's almost always worth the shot on the roulet. Sometimes, people sing about love. Sometimes," I said, changing the tune to a bit more of a funeral-march-tune, "It shows loss. But any way you slice it, music is the outlet for anyone with a burden.

"Another part of music is the relatability of it. Certain songs connect to certain people. For instance," I said, changing the tune to Sunrise, by Our Last Night, "a song that speaks to me is Sunrise, by Our Last Night, because it says that even when life gets hard, you'll still see tomorrow as long as you hold on tight and don't let go. Some could argue that a lot of the music today isn't exactly something to relate to. And I get that. A lot of the newer songs don't really have a meaning. They're just kind of addicting because of catchy tunes and repetition. However, I am not talking about music such as that. I am talking about the heart and soul of music. The music that makes you glad to be alive, just so that you can listen to it. The kind of music that makes you think that maybe, despite everything you don't know, everything will be okay and work out. Music has been proven to be relaxing, depending on the type from person to person, but still, most people have at least one song or tune they are partial to, because on some level, the song or tune connects to them.

"One of my last points," I said as I sped up the beat into a jazzy tune again, "is that when people talk about music, they talk about the emotion. Have you ever heard something so powerful that you just ceased to move for a few minutes, savoring the power that began to flow through your veins as the notes either crescendoed or decrescendoed?" I asked as I began to play my favorite part of "Love Somebody" by Maroon 5. The notes crescendoed as I said, "For heart and soul to be used is a wonderful thing. And finally, music allows for light, even in the darkest of days, because music is always there. No matter where you go, no one can take away music." I finished, not sure if anything had been clear, trying to allow the final notes of Piano Man to fade out before I stood up, headed back to my seat, and plopped down, hoping to god and anything else up there that I hadn't just made a complete idiot of myself. Surprisingly, I got some major applause, and then Hikaru went up to the front. I held my breath. Until that moment, I'd forgotten he'd asked me to help him with his schtick. Hikaru cleared his throat, and then began.