Day 240-- the Weep Button
Thursday, May 03, 2007
By the time the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" in the finale of Les Miserables, my jaw was clenched tightly to keep the tears from cascading down my cheeks. It had started Monday night, the first rehearsal the orchestra had with the students--I felt a lump in my throat during several of the numbers. And now the almost-tears. It was only Thursday night, too. I knew--I just knew--that by Saturday night I'd have to shut my music stand lamp off so the entire audience wouldn't have to witness me bawling my eyes out.
I'm a weepy sort. I cry when I'm sad, but I also cry when I'm really happy, when I've been moved by something beautiful ("moved to tears"), when I'm incredibly convicted of my sinful nature and when I realize how poor of a job I honoring God with my thoughts, words and deeds. I also bawl when I see or read something exceptional: extreme examples of self-sacrifice, strong bonds of brotherly or familial love, and when villains repent of their wicked ways and are redeemed.
This is way Les Mis is killing me. The musical is a combination of all of the above; the music especially is emptying my tear ducts. There must be some list of melodies or chord progressions that turn me into a mess.
I even have an extensive list of movies I can't watch without crying. Some are seemingly universal in weepiness (Grave of the Fireflies, Magnolia). Others are more peculiar (Gunga Din, when they show Din's super-imposed ghostly face saluting as Rudyard Kipling reads his poem; They Died With Their Boots On has both a romantic scene and musical montage that turn me into a fountain).
You could be asking 'Do you get embarrassed?' Maybe a little bit. But not really; I'm emotional in that way, and I'm fine with that. But I seriously do believe that there is some toggle or button on my neck--near the start of my spine--that causes me to cry. I must bump it a lot.
posted, with grace and poise, by Jason @ 5/03/2007 10:41:00 PM,
2 Comments:
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At 9:44 AM,
Angela said...
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you're not the only one :-)
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At 4:26 PM,
joeldaniel said...
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i'd like to think that those of us who regularly use our "weep button" are making better use of our emotive nature.
