Feel that bu-bump, bu-bump keeping time in your chest? That’s what keeps you alive. Like this little ticker- with its complex rhythms, crescendo and decrescendo – music keeps our souls alive. We depend on music to express what words simply cannot. Like poetry, music is to be performed, and for centuries have compelled listeners to swoon over works ranging from Beowulf to modern day works of art.
Crotchet. Minim. Semi-breve… it’s all gobbley-goop to me, but is it? Whilst to the untrained eye they may appear as random marks on a page, they can speak to one’s soul and come together to create something for which beautiful is an understatement. Music has a way in which it is always relevant to whatever situation you’re in – whether it be your first heartbreak, meeting new people, or just needing that extra motivation in the gym to get down to business and defeat the buns. Music is everywhere and can help you achieve anything.
William Shakespeare once said – ‘if music be the food of love, play on’, which implies that music can enhance our feelings of love and is a way to express it. Likewise, music is all in cumbersome as it knows no social hierarchy nor boundary – its purpose is to unite those from different ends of the spectrum.
Concerts are a peculiar thing. You will see all walks of life queuing up to see artists/bands, who maybe at first you would not assume to be fans of that person and you may never speak to in your daily life. However, you let go of your own prejudices and inhibitions as you and those around you are immersed in the spectacular show. You all unite in a loud sing-along till your heart is content, with your sore throats and smiling faces.
Music is also remarkable for being a vehicle for progress – it can change the world and people’s lives. For example, Band Aid and Live Aid combined raised about $150 million (USD) for the famine relief effort in Ethiopia in 1984 alone and in recent years, Band Aid 30 raised $1.5 million (USD) for Ebola in 2014 – something which has gone down in history as well as marking a change in the British philanthropy.
Overall, music not only connects to an individual’s soul, but has changed the way we perceive others and interact. If it were not for music, we as humankind would know less about ourselves, and about the people around us.
Here’s a playlist called ‘The Best Songs of All Time’ to remind us all why music is incredible!
