7 Day Wayback Music Challenge - Also Sprach Zarathustra

I would like to thank @mathowl for nominating me for this challenge but to prove that I am a non-conformist or just too lazy to do this repeatedly, I will do only the day 1 of the challenge.

^{Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich, CC0}

When I was in high school I started listening to classical music (Baroque, Classical, and Romantic). I don't remember how and why I got into it (not any heartbreaks or anything, I was a nerd). One of the music that made a great impact in my life is "Also Sprach Zarathustra or Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss. It introduced me to two things: "2001: A Space Odyssey" and Nietzsche. Nietzsche introduced me to a world previously unknown to me: Philosophy. High school me was obsessed with Physics and all I did was read The Feynman Lectures on Physics over and over again. I had the "Science only matters, philosophy sucks" attitude. If it wasn't for Strauss I would have never bothered to pick up a philosophy book.

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" is a tone poem composed by German composer Richard Strauss. It is loosely based on Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" but Strauss himself denied any connection of his work with the Nietzschean philosophy.

I did not intend to write philosophical music or portray Nietzsche’s great work musically. I meant rather to convey in music an idea of the evolution of the human race from its origin, through the various phases of development, religious as well as scientific, up to Nietzsche’s idea of the Übermensch. The whole symphonic poem is intended as my homage to the genius of Nietzsche, which found its greatest exemplification in his book Also Sprach Zarathustra.

I won't go into the philosophical aspect of the music. If you want to learn more about it, you can read this awesome master's thesis, Zarathustra as Superman: Reading the Nietzschean Narrative in Also Sprach Zarathustra. [link]

For me, the most captivating part is the opening (Sunrise). Orchestral outburst filled with joy and triumph. This is the part where Nietzsche's Zarathustra gains ultimate wisdom on the mountain and decides to go back to civilization. I interpret the opening as the rise of mankind by standing on the shoulders of giants. Instead of relying on a higher power (like the monolith in "2001: A Space Odyssey"), mankind shall rise on its own to transcend god himself.

Rules

Here are the rules for the challenge:

• Choose one song from your high-school/college years.
• Write a few words about who made you listen to this song for the first time, what this song means to you (was it a breakup song? you blasted it at 100% on your audio system when you were partying with your friends?) whatever you want.
• Write your text while listening to the song. As soon as the song ends, wrap up what you where writing and submit it. Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated. (I won't do this :P)
• Mention one person who should do this on each day.
• Tag it with #musicwaybackchallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post.

I nominate @kingabesh for this challenge :D