Suzanne's Soundtrack Sunday

Lately, there have been a lot of passings of musicians, and it causes me to stop and ponder why their deaths affect me so much more than when a favorite actor passes away.

The genres are both very public, acting and music making. There's a huge difference, though. Where you can watch a movie over and over and be captivated by a performance like James Dean's in Rebel Without a Cause, there are only so many times you can watch it. Songs, on the other hand, are a few minute embodiment of a musician's heart and soul that you can play dozens of time in the same span you would view that one movie. A movie can draw you in, but it's rare that the scenes reflect your life so completely, the way the words set to music sometimes do.

So, when a great musician passes, it tends to affect me much more. The recent release of Rock Band: Beatles and airing of the memorial concert to honor George Harrison on VH-1 just makes me miss the Quiet Beatle even more.

Then, this week's passing of Mary Travers makes me realize that all the musicians that created songs that formed my appreciation for good music are moving on to the great gig in the sky. We still have their songs like "Leaving On a Jet Plane" to remember them by, but the wistfulness and longing in the song just seem that much more real now.