Song of the Day - Yann Tiersen

It's somewhat of a commonly known fact that I have a bit of a love affair with Yann Tiersen. Not the man, mind you (although I'm sure he's a lovely man as well), but rather, his musical compositions.

It began with the "French" film, Amelie, one of my all-time favorites, which, ironically enough, led many French people to balk and turn up their noses on account of its "Hollywood" feel. Yann Tiersen is the genius behind Amelie's soundtrack, which is simply intoxicating. After exhaustive listening of the soundtrack, I explored some of his other compositions and picked up on a very distinctive personality to his music that is so emotionally stirring. At times, when playing his songs on the piano, I will be so moved that I will literally have tears streaming down my face (this tends to make reading the sheet music somewhat difficult, obviously).

I was walking into work the other morning, on a typical foggy San Francisco morning, and I was tuned into the iPod on random shuffle, as per the usual. And then, Yann Tiersen's "Le Moulin" began to play in my ears. The inherent chaos of a typical weekday morning in the city at rush hour, along with the soothing piano of "Le Moulin," gave my morning a sudden dream-like quality - like a kind of impromptu dance. Business-clad people scurrying along sidewalks, flower merchants setting out their wares, buses and cabs zooming past, steam from the city sewer wafting up from the street. It was so poetic - the whole paradox of it all.

Caught in this sort of trance, I momentarily paused at a department store window (which I never do) and admired what was a rather stunning display. I caught my own reflection and the blurred images of those behind me who were rushing past, oblivious to the shimmery, colorful presentation in the window. And suddenly I became the paradox - caught in a vortex of stillness and calm, amidst a flurry of chaos.

Maintaining that sort of calm in a flurry of chaos is my constant struggle. The piano is one of but a few secret weapons I have that will take me to that place. And Yann Tiersen is another.