Music: The Cure

“Music is often characterized as the language of emotions.”
-Elsevier Science

Music is not just entertainment; it takes you through life.  It controls your mood, it captures the moment, it is a science and an art, creates a foundation for memories, aids people, conveys thoughts and feelings that cannot be described through spoken words, and paints pictures better than writing.  And sometimes when you’re alone and life is pulling you into despair, music is the only thing that pushes you to live.

“People perceive and respond to music in different ways. The level of musicianship of the performer and the listener as well as the manner in which a piece is performed affects the "experience" of music. An experienced and accomplished musician might hear and feel a piece of music in a totally different way than a non-musician or beginner. This is why two accounts of the same piece of music can contradict themselves.”
-Laurence O’Donnell (Scottish Musician)

Some songs connect you to a different time.  They let you drown in forgotten feelings and indulge in lost memories.  They surround you with the atmosphere of the memory that it kidnaps you and feeds you old emotions to renew in your mind.  More powerful than sight, it paints motions, words, thoughts, laughter, crying, and the deepest of emotions back on your scarred canvas.  Many times it’s not even the lyrics that connect to your soul.  It’s the feeling of the combinations of notes that flow in patterns that grab your heart.  Certain songs can chill you to the bone, make you elated, feel security, or even feel the pain of someone else. When the words match the emotions you feel from that song, it’s called a masterpiece.

“In one experiment, patients who had just been informed of their need for imminent surgery, were tested for blood cortisol concentrations after listening to a calming piece of music, chosen by each patient in consultation with a music therapist; cortisol levels were reduced by 50% compared with the control group that did not listen to any music.” (Cortisol is a stress hormone)
-Roger W. Wicke, Ph.D.

Other songs will take you away, to a place deep in your conscious.  Somewhere far in your mind where skies are bluer and the breeze caresses our skin.  Sad songs can greatly bring our moods down, cheerful songs can pull them up.  But there are also those bittersweet songs that seem happy on the surface, but carry a certain element of loneliness in the notes.

“Music is known to be food to the soul. Many studies have investigated the effects of music on attention needed for studying. A great deal of studies conducted was to investigate the effects of music, most specifically the Mozart Piece, on the enhancement of intelligence. Music produce soothing effects on the mind, it increases focus when studying or produces a great deal of concentration required for a task. Music is utilized to block out external noise and create a background noise beneficial for the task.“
-Nana Y. Jukwakyi Agovi 
Cardinal Stritch University

It’s crazy how certain sounds that are queued into parts of the songs make such a difference in how the feeling is portrayed.  To every individual, the feeling is different, yet songs bring us all together.  Songs can invoke inspiration, bring someone over the edge to die, convince someone to feel a certain way, and make a memory that would have otherwise been lost linger for years.  Music is so powerful because it holds the emotions of our hearts.

Music is used in media, entertainment and advertising because it sticks in our heads and our hearts.  For example, are you more likely to remember what someone told you if it were a lecture or a catchy song that they sung?

I want to thank all types of musicians in the world for the gift they give us everyday.  Their hard work, emotion and talent is what keeps us from going insane.

Ning.