Music - finding my way back and forward - 2

It's time for overdue realisations.

First, it seems to me that music at its deepest is about human connection.  This is what I was going to write about in the first place.  Although it's related to what I am actually going to write about, as a topic of its own it will have to wait for another post now because  

Second, this morning I was listening to Ed Sheeran's version of "The Parting Glass", (studio version, hidden track at the end of Track 12 on the album "+") and realised the song is about dying.  I'd thought it was about someone leaving for Australia or America or another of the many places Irish people have looked for a better life.  I've always loved the song.  Having realised it's meaning, I looked it up on the net and found that of course it's sung at funerals.  Why on earth wouldn't anyone see that?  Duh!  Then I researched, fairly thoroughly, other versions of the song on YouTube and found none that move me as much as Ed Sheeran's.

I was using the shuffle function on the playlist "Gentle" on my iPod and The Parting Glass was followed by the sublime Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber.  I'm slightly put off including it in my own funeral wishes by the number of hits it gets on Google for just that purpose but I did find one entry which says the music goes from sadness to joy.  Not sure on this one as I never like to follow the crowd.  But I guess every so often the crowd displays good taste.  And as a pair of pieces back to back, I've rarely come across anything better.  After the pure sadness of The Parting Glass, the adagio just fills you right back up again with peace.

This morning was by way of an experiment, listening to music while eating breakfast at the table and reading the latest issue of The Simple Things.  Previously, I've been doing this sans music but it occurred to me that much of my life is now silent and I might be happier if it wasn't.  I'd say the experiment was a success.  The downside is that I've only got this one Gentle playlist which will really suit the mood of Sunday breakfast.  Perhaps I'll add to it more often, but just now the playlist looks like this: