Well I presume if you’re an Irish teenager, and don’t live under a rock, you will know from top to toe about the main event of the summer. Oxegen. A musical festival in Ireland, which originally boasted true rock acts, idie artists and upcoming starlets. This year however, Oxegen turned POP.
Now, I have to admit, I’m no music devotee. Fair enough, I like to blast out the tunes when I’m driving on a sunny day, or getting ready before going out, even numbing the ears of my parents when I’m in a bad mood. But I’m definitely no hard core fan. So this year, at my first attendance at Oxegen, it was more of the “experience” rather than the talent…unless you count “talent” as the loud Armagh neighbours right next to our tent. I guess this has turned Oxegen into what it is today, people going for a boozy weekend instead of appreciating the music.
Not to be a hypocrite, because I was one of the boozy teens, living the life in a field in Kildare. Doing nothing but hanging out, drinking and feeling totally relaxed. But for the fans, the true fans who have saved every shilling they could come across to see their idols, I would be a little peeved with the drunken, middle aged men running around in mankinis. I couldn’t feel a little remorseful for the twenty-something couple, camping next to us, while we stayed up to the late hours of the night, just being teenagers.
It’s incredible to see the gateway music has become to people. From the hotshot walking around his iPhone 4 in his ears to the man who has nothing but the clothes on his back and the guitar in his hands. Music has been the magnificent release of emotion into a different world, where people can show their true colours. It almost makes me jealous that I don’t share this elite bubble, that I can’t contribute to this circle. Music never really took me along the way, writing was always the key to my passion. I could never feel the same way others did when they heard a song. I could never feel for a song, never wish it wouldn’t end. Books intrigued me more, how once I was in a different world, it was my escape. Any time my life didn’t feel satisfactory enough, I could turn to a magical world, or a thrilling place and feel elated. That’s what music is to those, music is their escape.
Some of my friends are very involved in music. One of my best friends has often tried to open me up to new artists and new songs, but they don’t speak to me the way words do. I saw my old boyfriend fall in love with his guitar the way I fell in love with books, and I couldn’t help but feel jealous. No not that he spent more time with the guitar than me..cough cough, but that something so ordinary could give him such happiness. I found it fascinating. Going to gigs, listening to my friends bands and see them feel so wonderful, so happy that they are doing the thing that they love.
Music has taken the lives of pretty much the entire world, It’s a true art that is appreciated by millions, and even though I may not relate the same way others do, the lyrics all the same are beautiful. It gives the chance for people to express their true feelings, for people to come together and relate. Music may not be my passion, but it is my fascination. An undeniable force that is bringing the world together on new levels. So as we return to the Red Campsite, with overweight men in mankinis, we are all there for the same reason, not just for the drink, drugs or sex. But for the music. “I say what I want to say and do what I want to do. There’s no in between. People will either love you for it or hate you for it.” – Eminem
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