Nowadays, the popular music seems to be rap. It’s the “in” thing. All I ever hear on the radio is how this girl was dancing in a club or how someone thinks they’re oh-so-hot. As Bowling for Soup once said, “same song, different chorus.”
Most people don’t know what music is capable of, what it was meant for. All people want is money and fame and the music industry has made such things fairly easy to get. People don’t even need any kind of musical talent anymore thanks to synthesizers. Good looks and friends in high places can get a person to the top.
In my opinion, music should be used to express hidden feelings and meanings in everyday life. It should really mean something to be a musician, to have that much raw creativity and emotion. Musical artists should write their own songs, not have their recording company write for them.
For years, mothers have sung their children to sleep without knowing the reasons behind why it calms their whirling minds. Music is the key to the unconscious, a passageway into our inmost desires, fears, delights, a door into the imagination. It can spur new emotions, give us renewed courage and motivation.
Different types of music, beats, rhythms and melodies affect our brains in different ways. They also create unique emotional feelings in each individual. Music leaves an imprint on your mind that is not easily erased. That's why so many of the radio and television commercials use music or "jingles" to get us to remember their particular products.
An impassioned guitar solo can send your heart racing. A haunting voice can shoot chills down your spine. Singing releases endorphins that kill pain (whether it’s on or off key). Students who study music in school have higher grade point averages than those who don’t. Music has an unexplainable affect on people. Even Napoleon understood the power of music. He summed it up with “give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation and I care not who makes the laws.”
So... Why does this matter? If music has this much influence over feeling, use it to your advantage. Play Mozart to help you focus on studying for an upcoming presentation or project. Play some rock before you hit the starting blocks. Set the mood for your date. Music brings meaning to life, magic to the mediocre, a sense of being alive and loved that no circumstance can take away.
Next time you listen to the radio and you hear one of your favorite songs, think about the message behind the music. Think about what the song makes you want to do. Think about what our generation is coming to if that’s what we’re growing up with. Think about what the next generation is going to listening to.
When I grow up and have children, I will make sure they are exposed to the best of the best when it comes to music. Even oldies that my parents and even grandparents listened to. The Beatles, The Eagles, The Kinks, The Kooks… a lot of bands starting with “the.” They are the best though. The point is that my children will not grow up on music about sex, drugs, alcohol, and how they are “the best things in the world.” I also believe that none of yours should either. Think about it.
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