Beyond the Book: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

This bookish feature is an original by me! I had the epiphany for this the other day when I was writing out my 15 bookish confessions. (See #7) A lot of times I like to go “beyond the book” and do something that will connect me with the book and characters a little more. It will pop up on Mondays! Be on the look out for which books caught my eye and made me go beyond just reading it! 

“I believe that a person’s taste in music tells you a lot about them. In some cases, it tells you everything you need to know.” 
― Leila Sales, This Song Will Save Your Life

          In so many ways I found myself relating to Elise in this book. I’ve never been one that was the most popular. I’ve always been an introvert, even as a kid. As a child I played by myself and as I grew older I read instead of played. I never went out and spent most of my Friday and Saturday nights in the house. But never once did suicide cross my mind. I took my anger out in different ways. 

     In my case, the thing that “saved me” in high school was also music. But, I unfortunately didn’t get to become the town’s hottest dj. I was in the school band. Now that may not sound very cool, but we had two things that made us well known. One was our band director, Mr. Washington. Even those who had never even been in the band hall knew who he was. He was very nice, sweet, and so very smart. Also, there was the way we played. While everyone else in our district did something called “corps style,” we did another version called “high stepping.” It set us apart from other bands in our area because we marched different and we played completely different music from them. Things that our students actually knew and was on the radio at that point in time. This gave us a lot of “street cred.” 

     Being in the band gave me reason to have pride in something. My mom always told me, the way to make it through school is to join something. Although the introvert in me hated having to socialize, when I played my instrument, I felt as if I was by myself and playing all alone. Soon after, my flute and piccolo became an attachment to my hand. Band made high school so much more fun and it passed by so much more faster. With everyone respecting the organization you’re in, they don’t think to make fun of it as much.

     Music saved my life by giving me a reason to WANT to go to school everyday. I wanted to be around those people that had as much interest in their instrument and music as I did. I wanted to get my frustrations out as I marched up and down the field. I wanted to forget about being by myself by counting out complicated rhythms in my head. In the end, I developed so many friends that felt the same way I did about music. It’s obvious that music ended up helping us all. 

Did music save you at all? 

Have you ever had such a connection with a book that you had to go beyond just reading it? 
Join me on Mondays with Beyond the Book!