Arts & Healing Arts for Military Veterans By Amber Robinson
Music, The Universal Healer The power of music. It is said to be one of the most powerful, if not most powerful, healing art. Music has a special ability to soothe us, elate us, motivate us to move or move us to tears. It evokes emotion in the most stirring of ways, taking us back to moments in time complete with the smells and feelings. Music can also be a place to hide, a place to find refuge when days seem dark. As a Soldier deployed to Afghanistan I found that sort of comfort in music. Every night of each of my three deployments I would hit the gym, retreat into my headphones and let music carry me away from the war. During my second tour I discovered artists like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and XXY. I’d stay on the treadmill and stationary bike for miles upon miles, letting the music and the rhythm of my body carry me away. My next tour I was still hooked on the same bands, just their new albums. These musicians became my daily saviors. This inspired me to reach out to fellow veterans locally to see what album, band or song has kept them going during war, training or just hard times in general. Whether certain music gave them a laugh, good memories or helps them to heal and grow now, it’s obvious music and military service have a close relationship. San Diego Army veteran and artist, Brian Meyer, says he used to listen to the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin during his service, but has a particular memory of a Zeppelin knock-off group. “I remember when the ground war started in Desert Storm and we just got finished changing frequencies and call signs for our Log Base. They played over the radio station “Dread Zepplin”, a reggae cover band playing “Stairway to Heaven”, but the lyrics were to Gilligan’s Island.,” said Meyer. 22
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / July 2021
“Just the thought of all our tanks driving into Iraq listening to “Stairway”, and how the lyrics were just completely wrong, but still fitting, had to have made a few listening, chuckle.” “[The] Stone Temple Pilots [album], ‘Core’, settles me,” said Navy veteran Eric Trigg. “One of my go-to songs is “Beautiful” by Carol King,” said Naval officer, Theresa Louise Carpenter. “Every time I hear it, I get inspired. It’s lyrics remind us that your attitude is a choice, one that we must take control of and decide to choose to be positive, no matter what crap life throws at us.”
