Do you listen to music? I’m not asking if you listen to it as a subtle, faint background noise; I mean do you really listen to music? Do you let it flood over you until you are completely enthralled by new ideas and emotions? Do you turn it up as loud as your ears allow?
It’s just noise and words. Yet even through its simplicity, it has the ability to move people to places they have not yet been.
The mellow harmonies flooded my ears. The artists’ words slipped and lingered at the ends giving my brain just enough time to process each one. The composition of haunting language and healing harmonies brought the memories galloping back. I was not just listening to a song; I was reliving an entire phase of life and feeling each emotion that came with it.
I drove home that day and I heard the sounds of good and bad memories pounding into my ears. I listened to the anthems of people who helped build me. My brain compartmentalizes songs that have made an impact on my life from Taylor Swift to Billy Joel. There is a song for Sunday Funday driving; windows down, best friend in the front seat, laughter and oldies ringing through the air: “Come on Eileen” and “Here Comes the Sun.” There is a song for snuggling, being held in sweat pants and fuzzy socks, Jack Johnson’s “Banana Pancakes”, of course. There is a song for when your smile stretches all the way to your eyes, showing the world happiness is genuine; after all, nothing beats a little “That’s What Makes You Beautiful” from our beloved One Direction. There is, however, also a song for when tears have to fall, like the score of a movie plays at the most tear jerking moment. There is a song for each memory.
Music is love. Music is happy. Music is liberating parties with your friends on a Friday night. Music is driving on back roads. Music is dancing around your kitchen baking cookies. Music is daring to sing at the top of your lungs, even if it is just in the shower. Music is stopping to calm yourself and breathe.
It’s not just a collection of lyrics and harmonies. It is an experience. From “Brown Eyed Girl” to “Forever Young” to “Clique”, music is an experience. You can make it your story.
Do not listen to the catchy tune; listen to the moment. Feel it; and thus appreciate music for what it is meant to be.