Underscore

Main Entry:
1un·der·score
Pronunciation:
\ˈən-dər-ˌskȯr\
Function:
transitive verb
Date:
1771
1 : to draw a line under : underline 2 : to make evident : emphasize, stress 3 : to provide (action on film) with accompanying music

In my life: the music I hear in my head nearly every minute of every day, frequently with full orchestral accompaniment, often audible to others as I sing or hum, usually appropriate to the situation at hand.

i.e.

1. Last night I was hearing Bach and Mozart: I was at Sterling Singers.
2. Saturday morning: Irving Berlin, specifically "There's No Business Like Show Business"
3. Saturday night: Carole King, "Where You Lead" (in spite of the fact that I was watching Rossini's "Cinderella")
4. Last week Thursday and Friday: Cory Hart, "Never Surrender".
5. Right now? A bizarre mix of all of the above, with Billy Joel and Sunshine in my Soul thrown in for good measure.

There have been times in my life when the music has stopped. It might seem as if that would be a good thing, but it leaves me feeling isolated and disjointed. Most of the time I don't even think about the music in my head, it's just always there. It's part of who I am. So, when I heard my friend Kelly talk about how he likes to do shows so much because that, along with his choirs, provides the underscore of his life, I felt a little bit sorry for him. My underscore is provided 24/7 by my own imagination. Even my dreams have music in them.

Maybe this makes me a little bit strange. Maybe this makes me a lot strange. But I can't imagine any other way to be. It's always been this way, I hope it always stays this way. In fact, one of my earliest memories is me swinging as high as I could go, singing a song about a caterpillar. I hadn't thought about it much, but most of my memories are underscored as well. Whether the music was there when it happened, or I provided it later I couldn't say, I'll just have to call it creative editing. It makes life very interesting, and life is meant to be very interesting ...with full accompaniment.