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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, December 28, 2003

COMMENTARY
Madonna or Mozart, music belongs to me

By Lauren Tasaki

Tim Robbins has this one scene in "The Shawshank Redemption" — one of the greatest movies ever, in my opinion — where his character, Andy, is sent to "the hole," or solitary confinement, for a week after playing a record of two women singing an opera in Italian over the prison loudspeakers.

When he gets out, his friends all ask him how it was.

"The easiest time I've ever done," he replies.

One man says that "there's no such thing as 'easy time' in the hole."

Andy says, "I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company."

They joke about how the warden would never let Andy tote the record player down into the hole with him.

"It's in here," Andy tells them, tapping his head. "And in here," he adds, pointing to his heart.

"That's the beauty of music. They can't ... get that from you."

Amen, Andy. It's hard to find a teen these days who doesn't listen to music. Not that it's just for teenagers, mind you. Music is universal; it's a part of everyone, regardless of age.

But, I'm sure I can vouch for most of my friends — and, in fact, the entire teen population — when I say that music is very important in our lives.

It's why you see some of us with headphones permanently attached to our ears, trying to sneak a listen in class, only to have our prized CD players taken away from us by a teacher, indignant because we haven't been paying attention to her lesson. Taking music away from a teen is inflicting the ultimate punishment.

Being a teenager is hard, because you're at this precarious stage where you feel grown-up, but don't have enough life experience to really be grown up. You want dearly to fit in, but the truth is, you don't even know who you really are half the time.

Music is powerful because it has the ability to convey emotions through words and sound. It can capture feelings and moments in time. It's easy to relate to certain songs because of their lyrics, and it's a special kind of reassurance to know that you're not alone in whatever you're feeling.

Music is a teen's escape. Sometimes, it's our only escape from nagging parents, piles of homework, gossiping peers, and that incredibly disastrous bedroom that needs to be cleaned before the weekend.

There's nothing quite like slipping on a pair of headphones and turning the volume on high to shut out the world.

Your music is a way of showing people who you are and how you think. It's the ultimate form of self-expression. It tells us that we can be individuals in a world where sometimes people want us to be all the same.

And, the greatest thing is, nobody can take this from us. No, this gift is for forever.

Lauren Tasaki is a senior at Moanalua High School. If you're a teen and would like to speak out about issues, trends, pressures and perceptions teens deal with, submit an article or suggest a topic to Island Life assistant editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.