What I Think About: Music

I have always been interested in how we listen to music.

This is likely due to the fact that I come from a family of musicians. Everyone in my immediate family sings and plays at least one instrument. My brother, mother, and father each have experience with teaching music, which leads to a wide exposure to various forms of music. I think we all have a rather diverse musical taste; at any time (at night), you may find one of us listening to Kirk Franklin, another listening to Edith Paif, someone else listening to Billy Joel, and the last listening to traditional Chinese Erhu music. During the day, however, all you would hear would be classical Opera from my mother's students (which is what I'm sitting through while writing this).

Despite the fact that all of us dabble in a bit of everything, each one of us have a certain genre or song that speaks to us in a way that nothing else in this world can do. I'd argue that this thing - a special connection with a certain type of music - is something every human being in this world shares, and it's what makes music amazing. Music can be so powerful that even those who know nothing about how music is made can be touched by it. Even my dog was in love with music; when someone sat down to the piano or began to sing, he would always sprint towards them and lay down next to their feet, and he wouldn't get up and leave until they were finished (or until he realized they couldn't sing).

I think music's magical power lies in its ability to make us recall memories, and appeal to our thoughts. For example, I know that I can listen to almost any genre and find something that I like about it, regardless of how familiar or foreign it is to me. Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Spanish salsa, which I'll admit is strange, but it's fun to listen to even though I understand little to nothing that is being said. Unfortunately, I have very little connection to this kind of music; I don't have many ties or much exposure to the culture it comes from, I can't understand the language, and it doesn't conjure up any memories for me. If you play the right hymn or an old-fashioned gospel music, however, I'll be forced to pay attention. That music, culture, and experience is so ingrained into who I am that it always tugs on something in my core, drawing out a pleasant feeling that comes from a clear or vague image or memory.

I always enjoy hearing people say, "OOOH that's my song!" because their face always lights up with smile, and obviously something has been sparked inside them. I haven't yet heard someone say "OOOH that's my genre!", but I believe that different types of music speak to individuals. It may be the soft, classical instrumental music that your parents made you play as a child, or maybe it's the smooth jazz that you watched your father listen to while growing up. Then, when that one song begins to play that embodies anything and everything you've ever loved, it blows your mind. In some cases, it makes people feel as if a song belongs to them - as if it was made for them and nobody else. All of us have likely seen someone get upset when one of their songs get popular and everyone else starts singing it. I've personally heard plenty of heated arguments centered around whether someone heard a song first or not. If people have the audacity to start fights around this issue, there can be no doubt that there's something special about music.


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On a related but separate note:

Someone who has caught my attention recently has been Xxxtentacion, even though I can't say I'm a follower of his music, or a fan of any of the problematic aspects of his lifestyle. His personality and style is unique to say the least, which can be inferred from his name. What's even more interesting in my opinion is the message he sends through his music, and the nature of his fan base. I can't fully comprehend it, but I've come to realize that my inability to understand his music doesn't mean his music is impossible to understand. It simply means that I don't understand it. I was talking to one of my friends about Xxxtentacion earlier this year, and I told her that I thought his music was extremely confusing (at that time I had only heard "Look at me!" and in all honesty I feel like I had the right to be confused). She agreed that the message doesn't always reach everyone, but that his music spoke to her because she had gone through anxiety and depression herself, which is something he speaks to through his music. My friend's connection to his music was surprising to hear, although I understood that we had different life experiences which caused me to interpret his music differently (although I kept thinking, how is "Can't keep my d*ck in my pants" relatable?). Regardless, I appreciated her telling me that, because it gave me a new understanding that allowed me to hear his music in a new way, thus giving me the opportunity to be more musically diverse. That's another great thing about music - what's ugly to one person can be beautiful to someone else.

I don't think I'll be playing "Look at me!" around the house while my parents are home, though.