Music is one of the true joys in life for many people. It brings pleasure to so many people. You can see people’s faces light up when their favourite song comes on in a way that I can only compare to when they see someone they love or, you know, their food arriving at a restaurant. There is a hormonal response.
There is something about music that can touch you more than anything else can. It can conjure up feelings you didn’t even know were there. As humans, so much of what we do is unconscious but often, and without warning, in hearing a certain lyric or a melody we can begin to understand our own feelings. I’m sure we’ve all had that moment where we’ve heard the right lyric at the right time or a song whose melody just fits with how you feel at that exact moment. It’s like the song was written for you.
From my earliest memories of listening to the Lighthouse family and David Gray in the kitchen with my dad to going to festivals with my friends, music not only connects you to people, but it also connects you to a time in your life. Whoever you are and wherever you see it, music has the power to take you out of the moment, on the most basic level, and connect you to something greater on a more nuanced level. I’m not spiritual, but it’s the closest thing I can think of to a spiritual experience, or at least what I imagine one to be like.
In society, not only can music be used in the health sector to improve mental health by reducing anxiety and helping people sleep. It can even be used for rehabilitation and therapy. Good vibrations, for example, (good-vibrations.org.uk) is a charity which supports people with complex needs in the UK by providing communal music-making sessions. Music is even used in prisons as part of rehabilitation because it has the power to increase self-confidence and aid personal growth. Interestingly, there has also been recent research done by the American Music Therapy Association which indicates that rhythm and melody can have a positive impact on your physical being.
Mentally, live music is especially powerful. I am lucky enough to have seen a lot of live music in my life so far. Live music transports you to a loud, crowded and overwhelming world, but an altogether more exciting world. I’ve been to small gigs, concerts, and stadium tours as well as many festivals. While there is nothing like your first gig, live music events still give me the same feeling as when I was a child. The overriding feeling is one of disbelief. Anything could happen at any moment, and you are part of it. You are part of something.
Drake to most, Drizzy to some, Champagne Papi to his Instagram followers, and Aubrey Drake Graham (his full name) to no one, is one of my favourite artists. The first time I saw him live I was 18 and, like many 18-year-old girls at the time, I had spent the first half of the year listening to his second album Take Care in 2012. I think that was the first time I realised that music was more than just something that I listened to, it was something that I felt. The excitement and the anticipation of seeing your favourite artist and singing at the top of your lungs to a song you never thought you’d hear live was, and still is, incredible. I’ve seen him twice since and that feeling never fades.
It also brings people together in terms of building a sustained community. At a time when we know that Gen-Z is lonelier than ever, it’s a great way of meeting like-minded people and connecting with them over a shared love of an artist. Some of the best conversations I’ve had with new people are about Taylor Swift because it’s instantly something you can take a deep dive into if they are also a fan.
Taylor Swift, one of my favourite artists, has described how songs take you back to a specific moment in your life and evoke a specific memory. It acts like a sort of mental photograph which captures your feelings at the time. So, whether you’re more mainstream in your taste (I listen to Radio 1 all day) or not, there is an artist and a song for everyone and a positive experience to be had. You just have to find it.
Edited by: Josh Reidelbac
