Music is very important to me. My most practical use for music is as a personal divider I set up between me and the world when in public. I just don't care to hear about the ongoings of people I don't know on the bus...and so I pop my ear-buds in and press "up" on the volume until everything else goes away. This is usually pretty easy as my preferred genre is heavy metal.
I love metal for its flat out, no holds barred style. In my opinion it is the purest form of music, emotionally. Generally, you can tell from a song that the artists were pissed when they wrote it, but they can also slow down the tempo and be "more expressive" or at least more comprehensible. Regardless of the song, there is no mistaking how they felt, which makes the music very honest. I am often asked why I choose to listen to metal, and my reply is normally, "Because listening to it is like punching someone in the face...with your ears."
There are other virtues of course, not the least of which is the way music can focus you on yourself and relate to things you are going through. Taking 3 minutes at a time for yourself to think about life around you and your place in the world is a good thing. My favorite quality that music has is it's ability to connect you to someone that you have never met. When you hear lyrics written by someone else, in a different time, in a different place, that perfectly describe something that you are going through...there simply isn't another feeling like that in the world. Simply knowing that someone else, typically someone you admire, has been there is a powerful support tool in this life.
TL;DR: Music kicks ass...go listen to some now.
I think that's a really profound insight about being connected to someone through music.
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