“Music can heal the wounds, that medicine cannot touch” -Debasish Mridha
Music is simple. It’s a mixture of sounds put together in such a way it sounds beautiful to the ear. It doesn’t even have to be from an instrument. Take some time to listen to your surroundings. Close your eyes and breathe.
Did that feel relaxing?
Music is a form of art. Much of it is determined by the listener. Not everyone felt or heard the same things which make it difficult to assume that something that simple can calm a person down. Similarly, not everyone may relate to the same piece of music you would. Either way, it is something that is very much involved in everyone’s life including mine.
Here is a real conversation I had with a friend that had to do with naming all of the months while I was thinking about this topic.
Though it may just seem like a simple mishap, many people use popular songs such as the “Months of the Year Song” or the “ABCs” as a way to help in daily life. Many other songs have been created to help the memorization process of long lists. For example the “Fifty Nifty United States Song” and the “Periodic Table of Elements“. These songs have helped me in a working setting where I need to quickly remember a seemingly random topic.
This is a simple way to show how music is just used in daily life, but it’s when people start to relate emotions and interpret music in different ways that the second layer of music starts to unfold.
Two years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, I found myself, and unknowingly others, starting to take on the effects of social isolation. I found myself gravitating towards music to get me through the day. Just throwing in my Airpods and curling up in a blanket suddenly made me feel so much better. Sometimes you just need something to make you feel like you’re not the only one experiencing these feelings. There are so many kinds of genres of music that you can find yourself relating to. And it wasn’t only two years ago. Decades ago and even now, people use music as a coping mechanism when they are feeling down.
When I just need someone to understand how I am feeling (happy, in love, sad), and I don’t feel like people can understand, I resort to music because there is always something for me to express that. These are some songs that help me express how I’m feeling when I can’t or don’t feel like putting them into words. Try to guess the tone of each piece.
*Click sign in to start. Hover over the “play” button to play the song (turn up the volume). Press “Skip” to go to the next song.*
You can separate different tones from each song. “Prom Queen” shows insecurity which differs from “Until I Found You“, which shows what being in love feels like. There are so many options that make you feel like you are not alone with your feelings.
As mentioned before, music can be used as a way to express yourself when no one is watching or judging. Someone who has anxiety or insecurities turns to music as a way to show that they aren’t alone and there are people who feel like them. In this time when the whole world was shut down for two years and seeking help can be hard to accept or come by, music is a safe place for healing everyone.
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