I could easily list off a handful of songs, right off the top of my head, that had that impact. You could probably do the same. That something is what makes us keep listening to more music, trying to find that or feel that again. It's a little backwards, I know, but that's how it is. You've found or built relationships with songs, albums, or artists that mean something to you. I'm not talking about a song that's “our song” or reminds you of that one summer in high school, or makes you think of dancing like maniac in the front room with your siblings. Those songs are good, but I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about feeling it. That feeling about a song/album/artist you can't even really explain… you just know you like it.

The timing and conditions of those feelings are unique for each person, and that's key. Those relationships, that affinity with that music, if you will, is very personal. The songs I would list off might or might not hit any chord with you. It's possible/probable at least one of them as an anti-good song for you. It's also possible that one of those songs would be on your list of songs like that. There's one thing I can state for sure: I like to find those songs/albums/artists that do that for me.

I have a tough time sharing my feelings about that music. I usually don't have a problem recommending the music, but I tend to avoid details about it. I love to hear other people talk about music that way, but I'm afraid that once it gets turned into a conversation, we've elevated ourselves into the “über music nerd” category, not to mention the “people are embarrassed to be seen with us while we're talking about music like that” category. The silly part is, we all feel that way about some music.

Yet again, I don't know where I'm going with this, but here's a little list of ideas:

• Start or visit a site dedicated to this sort of stuff. I'm all about the non-threatening environments. If I'm throwing out stuff that deep, I'm not looking for the opposite point of view
• Throw out a simple list of 3 songs you can think of that really did it for you, no explanation needed.
• List 3 albums (instead of, or in addition to, the songs)
• Really feeling up to it? Expand those lists to 10
• Blog about it, or maybe just put the list in a journal or Field Notes book. Yes, your children might actually want to know stuff like that one day
• Go out and spend an hour or two clicking around the iTunes Music Store to find something new. Recently I've found at least one album I really enjoy

Just wanted to share. Isn't music great?