Music and Me

     Hello my name is Stanley Waters, I am a student athlete at the lovely Converse University. I have been a tennis player the majority of my life with very little musical experience. This being said music is still very important to my daily life and I actively listen to new genres and styles of music all the time. Wether it is to get me ready for a match or just to help the day go by faster, music is an irreplaceable component in my life and I have grown to appreciate all kinds of it. 

    I grew up in Charleston South Carolina where I moved around a lot going from Isle of Palms to Mount Pleasant to Berkley county and then back to Mount Pleasant. It has been a pleasure to grow up in such a history rich part of the state and country. I moved to Spartanburg to continue to to pursue my tennis career and finish my academic journey. I am glad to be here at Converse and it has been an absolutely wonderful decision that I made. 

    Music is a key part of my tennis game, it helps me stay focused and it helps me relax whenever I start to get overwhelmed by the thoughts going on in my head and the actions going on around me. This song in particular is my usual go to when it comes to relaxing and calming my mind before big matches or after tough losses. It has been my favorite song for quite some time now and it was shown to me by a close friend of mine who I haven't been able to see for a while now. The song is called "The Less I Know The Better" and it is performed by Tame Impala, my favorite artist group of all time. Me and my buddy were able to go to one of their concerts back in 2021 when I was living in Columbia and it was a core memory to be able to go watch them live and see them play right in front of me. 

    In terms of music that is deeply important to me the only song that comes to mind is "Hearts on fire" by John Cafferty. This song reminds me of when me and my dad would watch the Rocky movies and this was the most motivating and captivating song in the whole franchise in my personal opinion. Every time I listen to this song it reminds me of watching this movie with my dad and it brings nothing but happiness and joy to me whenever I hear it. This song is a key component to my music taste and I seem to enjoy it more and more each time I hear it. It is a masterpiece that made this movie one of my favorites in the franchise and it has been embedded with me ever since I had the pleasure of listening and experiencing it firsthand. 

 

As I said before I like all styles and genres of music and I try to listen to it all in order not to push judgements onto any particular artist or music. That being said I truly do not understand why the song "Baby Shark" by PinkFong kids was every truly popular. I understand that is was meant for children all around the world and it captivated people by its simplicity and animation but in my opinion it should not be able to get 15 billion views on the youtube platform. I have heard the song countless times and it was a huge trend on most social media platforms. This song although catchy and easy to remember should not be able to reach that many people across the world.