Musical Space

Winter is dragging on, and I’m not a fan of the cold. Freezing weather brings pain, a lingering kind that you sit and ruminate over. Add to this the uncertainty. January temperatures in Wichita have ranged from -15 to 75. The weather might blow from the Texas Gulf or from North Dakota. The fickleness builds hope, only to destroy it. Songwriters agree: Winter is misery, which is probably why there is so much music about the cold. Music: Iron and Wine, “Faded From Winter.” The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) - From his first album Songs can’t only be about happy things: Pain and hardship can drive the drama and structure of a piece of music the same way a tragedy will move the plot of a novel or film. Art comes from strife, and winter has that in spades. The cold is a perfect metaphor for joylessness, lost love, isolation, bitterness, old age and death. You can hear it in the words — frozen hearts and cold graves. It’s a well of metaphors that never seems to run dry. Instrumental music can