looking beyond the veil
By kyle simon, Mahtomedi

 

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Everyone has heard the expression, and finally given the chance to search through my memories, I couldn't agree more.

The cover of a book is often just a crude drawing with a couple tasteless words. I must admit that I have occasionally wandered the bookstore picking up random pieces of literature, only to find that although the cover was very pleasant, the contents were quite the opposite.

But on to music.

High school up to this point had been a very trying time for me. Labels were everything, which meant that popularity was everything. If you didn't have enough friends, or if you acted differently than everyone else, it meant something was wrong with you. You were essentially an "Untouchable" of the social teen world. I was lucky enough to sit at a table with a lot of people who although could be considered "dense" on some (or many) levels, were also considered popular. A few tables down had a much smaller crowd. These kids were quite different from the "norm" that had defined our school, and we had a name for them.

Goth.

One kid in particular was made fun of because of the guitar he always brought to school, and somehow, by some divine stroke, he managed to change my entire outlook on life.

He got up from his seat to go get some lunch, leaving his book of lyrics wide open on the table. I walked over with a few people to take a look at what he had written, and what we saw was the biggest shock I have witnessed in high school so far.

On the outside, he was a kid who only dressed in black, and had no more than three friends total; deeper down, he was someone who expressed his love toward god though music. It was... art. It also challenged everything I had believed in up to this point. I had been prepared for dark depressing lyrics, and as it turned out, his creative expression inspired change not only in the way I thought, but the way I treated people.

I had picked up a book with nothing but a brick wall on the cover, but inside a light was shown to everyone, beckoning for change.

 

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