My Obsession with A Beautiful Lie

Milly Thangjam *

Okay, I have always been in love with music and musicians but I thought I had left being obsessed with a particular song/artiste back to my teen years when there were still dinosaurs on earth.

The last time I remember reading every little line in stray magazines or collecting pictures of anyone was when I was eleven or twelve when I was so into Andrew Ridgeley. Thinking back, that was funny because he couldn't sing, couldn't even play the guitar he was supposed to play.

So now in my 30s and with a ghostbuster son, I am surprised at myself by how much I am in love with "Thirty Seconds to Mars".

I never thought I'd be interested enough to know the words of every one of their songs, where they were filmed, and what they meant. And I never thought I would seriously wonder how to get really short black nails like Jared Leto's.

And I mean really short, like about half a centimeter from the cuticle upwards.

Maybe it's surprising to me because I had seen Jared Leto many times as an actor on TV and film before he started singing, but I never thought twice about him. It all changed when I heard his singing voice and listened to that wonderful music.

But then, I never have liked any actor in my life. Not even Brad Pitt and Matt Damon who almost every other woman seem to go ga-ga over.

Nor do I like models. I don't even know the names of top models, don't know when Miss World or Miss Universe contests are held or who won and have no interest in them. I don't even know the names of top fashion designers apart from Gucci, but I know Maurizio Gucci only because I was hooked to his murder case when I was 19 and I love murder mysteries.

The thing is among entertainers, I like only musicians and writers. With them, one can hear their 'voice', feel their words, be a part of their world. Actors and models may act well or look good, but it stops there.

It's like an empty diamond cup in the middle of a desert.

Music is one of the most beautiful and powerful things I know.

      The Fifth of Beethoven intrigues me,
      Francis Lai's compositions soothe me,
      Ritchie Blackmore liberates me,
      Joe Satriani entertains me,
      the 70s music make me feel young and free,
      Lennon makes me imagine of a beautiful earth,
      Ugly Kid Joe moves me,
      Camper Van Beethoven makes me think of things I never thought before,
      the Foo Fighters makes me see how beautiful sounds can be.

Often times, I find myself stopping in the middle of a street where a beautiful tune plays somewhere because I just have to listen to it. One can't walk away from music, it's like the Pied Piper.

Being a woman, I wish there were at least one female artiste I particularly like. Sadly, that hasn't happened to me yet. I have liked a few songs by Alanis Morrisette and Janis Joplin but that's about it. They fail to move me as their male counterparts do.

Women mostly sing all those emo songs or bubble gummy kinds which I can't stand but I think it goes beyond that. My personal opinion is that men are more artistic, eloquent, and creative than women generally. I would choose my least favorite male singers to a Celine Dion or Nelly Furtado anyday.

In Thirty Seconds to Mars' music, especially their second album, A Beautiful Lie, there is a perfect harmony of sound, vocals, messages and lyrics. It's simply one of those albums one doesn't skip a single song even at the first play.

Jared Leto's voice is a real gift to the world, it's the voice I have always wanted to hear. When I first listened to "The Kill" two years ago, I ended up listening to it over and over again until the song played in my head for days afterward. It was that beautiful.

(Despite its name, it's a beautiful song just like Jared Leto says). "The Kill" will always be my favorite 30 secs number, but the theme and video of "A Beautiful Lie" are the most profound ones.

I especially like that the video makes people see how real global warming is through their real footages of the icebergs in Greenland which have since melted. Jared Leto is simply the best.

30 Seconds made me realize that that there is always an inner child in everyone. No matter how old one is, there may be a time when one feels like 13 or 14 all over again.

I never thought I would want to listen to the same album or the same song everyday for a year or so, until 30 Seconds hit me.

My son asked me the other day "Mommy, why do you listen to the same song everyday? I found it very funny, but I explained it to him the best I could and the best way he can understand " It's just like you listening to the Ghostbusters song everyday".

Or when my professor joked that it's time for me to listen to a different song during lab, I wanted to say he should also stop listening to the horrid PCR song from youTube, but I just smiled it away. The truth is for the time being, I am obsessed with Thirty Seconds to Mars, but I'm loving every minute of it.

Doby Gray once sang "Thanks for the joy you've given me. I want you to know I believe in your song...". That's exactly how I feel about Thirty Seconds.