Music, life, and the power of lyrics.

Music means something different to everyone. It can be a soundtrack to everyday life, enhancing the good times, or it can help to hold us up in the lowest of moments. A song will never argue with you, or fight back - a singer will never judge. You’re not just listening to music, you’re connecting with a songwriter, seeing parts of your own life reflected in their lyrics, and glimpsing a small part of their world. You’re getting inspiration from the thoughts of someone else.

In difficult times, a song blasted from speakers can drown out reality, the noises of life replaced by music. It can be a tool to help you rationalize your life, or simply help you imagine a different outcome. Just for a while, you create a life different to your own, a dream world inspired by the lyrics of a stranger. For a few minutes, you live in a musician’s creation.

It is easy to be judgemental about a certain style of music, or a song you can’t stand, but it’s equally easy to overlook the meaning someone might find within it. However unappealing it may seem, that song might mean as much to that person, as your favourite song does to you.  It is human nature - if something makes you feel stronger, you automatically return to it. For me, that is the role that music plays. I listen to songs that inspire me, help me, that relate to my life. It can seem to improve situations at times, and whether that’s true, or just a figment of my imagination, I can’t say. But is there a point where this level of reliance on music becomes unhealthy rather than helpful? As beautiful or life-affirming a particular song may be, it is still just the words of another person. Most likely the words of a stranger. 

It can be easy to associate a song with the musician who wrote it, which therefore can link these positive feelings with the person themselves. I think this is where ‘musician worshipping’ sometimes begins. I use this term lightly, as for most people a band certainly does not evolve into some sort of religion. I admit that I have been known to be quite ‘enthusiastic’ about certain bands – infact there are one or two bands that I’d miss my own birthday for than miss on tour, but is there a point where this level of dedication to a band or musician hinders your life rather than helps it? Does it encourage people to live in a fantasy world rather than concentrating on reality? Or is it encouraged because musicians wouldn’t make half as much money if this almost obsessive behaviour were to cease?