How I fell in love with the piano

As I explained, since I can remember I had a special connection with the music. Music was everything to me my life, my feelings... my escapism of my real life in the real world to a different place where all the good things lived, where all the dreams and hopes materialized, a place where the purity of oneself's emotions joined in harmony... a place where the meaning of suffering did not exist because feelings like pain, fear or hate were completely unknown. The nearest place to what we know as heaven or as Platon described it the world of the souls.
Back in the day, when there was no internet or only few people could afford it exploring new music was a challenge itself. You had very few sources like the radio or the library or else, if you could afford it again, the Opera or the Concert Hall. I was always borrowing music off the library, but for one reason or the other never discovered the piano solos and the selection of contemporary classical music or soundtracks was very limited.
It was when I moved to a new house that I discovered this music. I was 12 and my neighbor downstairs played piano. Rebecca was 14 and had a piano that was inherited from her granny, she used to play one or two hours every second day and her favorite song was this one I'm posting. I discovered a new world, a different concept of music that awoke feelings in me that were new for me.
These feelings weren't related to anything; this music didn't remind me of any experience, thought or sensation... it was the music and me bounded directly. Shivers ran through my body and all of a sudden all the feelings I had ever felt magnified and increased in intensity. I could smile without a reason or shed tears admired by the beauty of a song, it's when the notes transported me to this magical place.
The hunger in me was growing every passing day, the more I discovered the further I wanted to go. After class I used to go to this shop and look at the pianos that were exposed, I could spend there hours losing the sense of time.
No other instrument fascinated me in the way the piano did, no other instrument made me feel in the same way.
Two years later, when I passed my junior cert my parents decided to reward me with a keyboard. I could say that until now it has been the happiest day of my life.
I started playing without taking any lessons, everyday even if it was late at night (or let's say very early in the morning) and I used to play for hours. I put challenges to myself like playing certain amount of songs without failing, if I failed in one note I was starting again.
For those who don't know me, I was born with a malformation in my wrists but it only developed in one of them. I was in my growing period so the doctors didn't know how it would develop and if they had to operate me. This bone disease is a very rare form of malformation and if surgery is needed, the patient needs to spend 4 months with a plaster and after that you need to learn all the movements and exercises like writing. This is because they alter your nerves and the cells lose their memory.
They did not know whether to exercise was a good thing or a bad thing, there was so little reference or study linked to it; I put my bet and kept playing. There were days that it was ok, but some other days would hurt me and I kept playing until I could not bear the pain.
The pain eventually disappeared when I stop growing. I was giving the chance to go to college or start a music school. In my fear to fail and not being good enough I chose college, then I left the piano behind; it was like I felt I cheated on it...I played it here and there after that, but there is not a single day that I do not wish to start playing again in the way I did.

Early years of my childhood / Primeros anyos de mi infancia

Mecano is a Spanish band that was dissolved in the early 90's. If I had to describe their music style I would probably say that they had a refreshing pop, with unusual and unique rythms and elaborated lyrics that described random things such love, New Year's Eve, house parties, the first trip to the moon protagonized by a dog or in this case, the cinema. Their lyrics were pretty particular as they were written with many metaphores, giving a  real and sometimes cruel description of things in some songs and a sentimental and/or dreamy perception in others. They didn't have any taboos, proved with songs like Aire which tells the story of a guy that high of cocaine jumped off the window thinking he could fly or La balanza del amor which deals with the not so popular, back in the day, AIDS.
My mum has always been a huge fan of them and I remember how she was playing their songs in our stereo all the time while she was cleaning or in the car.Also my nana used to play it at her house. It was unusual the time that she would play Mecano when my dad was around, as he didn't like them. She would also play other bands like Hombres G, Loquillo, etc...but Mecano had a different meaning to me. I felt that I established a special connection with my mum through this band, it was like if we were communicating through the music with no need for words.
Later in time, with more knowledge of what the songs meant and after I experienced things they sang about, I then realized that they described in every song personal points of view or feelings I was unable to speak out.
The song I'm posting today is called El cine. I remember how everytime I listened to it I was picturing myself in the cinema surrounded by popcorns and soda, imaging that I was the main character in the movie experiencing what she was living in the story. Also made me believe, that Madrid was the city of the movies, of the dreams, of the opportunities and the city of the beautiful things and that if I ever was to live in Madrid it would be like being transported to a movie, my personal movie about my life. That is something I would discover in coming years.
(Lyrics at the end)
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Todo el mundo ha escuchado Mecano alguna vez en su vida, en la radio, en casa de un familiar o quizas tu has sido uno de sus fans como he sido yo. Los que me conocen bien saben que Mecano siempre ha estado presente en mi vida.
Desde que era pequenya recuerdo escuchar Mecano de fondo, mi madre siempre lo ponia cuando limpiaba o cuando ibamos en el coche. Tambien ponia otros grupos como Los Hombres G, Loquillo y demas pero Mecano quizas fuesen los que mas me impresionaban. Era rara la vez que lo ponia cuando mi padre estaba, ya que a el no le gustaba. Quizas es por ello por lo que a traves de Mecano estableci una conexion especial con mi madre era como si nos hablaramos a traves de la musica sin usar las palabras.
Despues, con el tiempo y con mas experiencia, me di cuenta de que sus letras expresaban sentimientos y puntos de vista como los que yo sentia/vivia; con lo que mi relacion con Mecano se afianzo.
La cancion que he posteado hoy, el cine, recuerdo haberla escuchado desde que tenia 4. Recuerdo como cada vez que la escuchaba me imaginaba a mi misma rodeada de palomitas de maiz y coca cola, mientras veia la pelicula y me imaginaba que era la protagonista de la historia, viviendo todas las aventuras que ella estaba viviendo. Tambien me hizo creer que Madrid era la ciudad de las peliculas, de los suenyos, de las oportunidades y de las cosas bellas... y que si alguna vez viviera en Madrid seria como trasnportarme a una pelicula, la pelicula de mi vida...mi propia pelicula.

Eso es algo que descubriria anyos mas tarde.

Lyrics:

The queue tonight

Has no end                  

Two hours hoping

That they wouldn’t hang

The bloody sign

That the cinema is full

I managed to get through the door

Here comes ten duros (old Spanish currency)

Don’t put me at the front,

Either at the back

Eternal ad on the screen

“visit our bar”

The lights were turned off

This is gonna start

The girl with the torch

Already left

Prelude of something

Exciting is gonna happen

On top of the image

Of a big city

Names and surnames

Of the ones who are

Actors, directors and else.

The noise of the factories waking up

The smells and colors of the big city

Made me feel that I was there…

That I was there.

The body of that girl who started trembling

When the actor tried to kiss her.

They made me feel that I was there

That I was happy

The first scenes

Make you involved in the situation

And slowly

The story starts developing

It seems that there has been a blackout

Catcalls to the box

Tense situation

The girl was already naked

When the scene got cut off

(While the dictatorship no nude scenes were allowed, therefore the reference to it)

Recovering the rhythm

The end arrived

whisperings

asking opinions about the movie

and a parade of zombies

that are leaving the venue

During an hour and a half

I could feel happy

Eating chocolate and popcorn

Feeling that it was me

The one kissing the actress