On a run around the park last week, I reached the point where I just wanted to give up. Despite the encroaching winter, the sun was hot on my face, and my feet decided that they quite simply had had enough. End of. And thus I ground to a halt. It was only when skipping aimlessly through songs and a feel-good tune suddenly came on that I realised I could in fact continue and finish my run (and thank goodness for that!) so on I slogged and made it back home in one piece.
Today I therefore want to pay homage to the miracle that is music.
It is an art form unlike any other, as it flits between visual and aural, across many media, it varies from place to place yet it is found in each and every pocket of the world. It can be created with nothing or with a whole host of instruments, technologies, or anything at all really... Even with lyrics it can be understood through the sentiment of the notes themselves - yet the very same notes in a different order, rhythm, or speed might belay an entirely different feeling. And no matter how much music is composed, it seems that day in, day out, there is so much more just waiting to be discovered.
One of the things I find most intriguing about music is its ability to shift moods. Just one song can completely turn your day around - if you're feeling a bit down because things aren't going your way, a long-forgotten favourite can put a smile back on your face and brighten up the afternoon, for example. But more than that, just a few notes put together a certain way can evoke such deep feelings as to bring a tear, a smile, a tug of the heartstrings... Furthermore, it is used to heighten the emotions of film - if you imagine watching Jaws without that soundtrack of suspense and horror but with some pan pipes or 90s pop or country music instead, do you think gripping terror would still reign? Somehow I doubt it... Similarly if it were not Hans Zimmer's emotive soundtrack over the concluding scenes of Gladiator but the dulcit tones (and here I use the term with just a smidgeon of irony) of Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus, for example, I think there'd be a good chance of rating turning to slating. Or not - whatever floats your boat.
But the overall message is that when you're a bit low, you can always use music to help lift your spirits. And when you're happy, well it just makes things even sweeter! For me, it's all about soundtracking life. I love to put some music on when cooking and travelling, and it helps keep me sunny-side-up. Dancing round the kitchen, spatula in hand, blasting out some 80s classics, or doing the washing up and humming along to some acoustic chillout... Club beats are best kept for prepping for nights out, whilst classical music works well as a background for dinners or whilst working. Big band jazz or poppy 50s/60s is great to bop along to during the household chores, and 90s music is always good. Have a dabble, try out some new bands, see what works for you... maybe you'll make some discoveries or rediscoveries along the way!
Music is also an immense vessel for memory. Emotions flow through it in the present, certainly, and can inspire such profound feelings at the time of listening, but a melody can also hark back to times gone by, and elicit the sentiment felt at the time, either from the listener or from the subject of the piece. You don't have to have lived the events or situations described by the music to relate to the emotions behind it, and that's what makes it so powerful. What's more, it can be months, years, decades, centuries even before the song is heard again and it can still have the same capacity for inspiration. And, I suppose, linked to this is the fact that a musical moment or a particular song can trigger memories from your own past, emotions relating to people, certain times of your life, even down to very moments themselves... And no matter where we hear the song or what we are doing, for a fleeting second we are transported back to that other point and for better or worse we recall what passed and relive it once more. Magic.
And one of the best things about music is its ability to connect people. No matter who you are or what your musical taste, there's always going to be someone who shares your opinions and someone else who doesn't - but that's the beauty of it. It can create surprising unions and break down barriers like nothing else - and now more than ever there are so many varieties and fusions that it's impossible not to like something accessible... Yes, there are still and probably will always be particular genres and groups adhering to the stereotypes thereof, but they aren't limiting. Obviously you can decide for yourself to stay within a particular area of music, and that's fine - it's good to know what you like and enjoy it. Maybe you even play music yourself, so you have something in common with others who do the same. Playing an instrument or singing or even recording your own digital music is a great way of meeting new people and making new friends, I heartily condone it! It's passion in itself to express yourself through a musical form, such that it probably brings you closer than most if you connect to someone else through that music.
But the point is that no-one can govern your music tastes, you're free to make your own choices, and there's just so much to choose from that you can have all your cakes and eat them too! You shape your own musical life, and right down to a day-to-day or even minute-to-mintue basis - all you have to do is just change your tune...
The bottom line is: if music be the food of love, play on!
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