Music Is Life

"Without music, life would be an error." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I know a few people who don't really care for music. Wow! Am I the only one who finds that totally messed up? I've tried to understand it, but to be honest, I haven't spent too long pondering it - because to me, that's just absolutely insane! I honestly cannot think how anyone can go through their life without finding meaning, excitement and value in at least some body of music..

I get that there are different levels of interest that a person can have for music, and varying amounts of value an individual places in it. That's all fair enough. It's like art - I appreciate the visual arts, just not to a huge degree. Probably, oh I don't know, 15% of everything I've ever seen that calls itself 'art' appeals to me and stirs something inside my soul, but the rest means as much to me as plastic and paper. And so it is with music - for some, very little appeals - and somehow even that is but a passing interest.

Personally, my taste in music is hugely varied and complex. From the psychedelic and progressive rock of Pink Floyd, right through to the full spectrum of underground Drum and Bass music, my passion for music is testament to having a great dad who introduced me to many fantastic artists from a young age. I am as excited by the raw power and dynamics of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal as I am by the heavy beats of Jungle, Ragga and Hip-Hop. I enjoy relaxing to the emotion-stirring depth of Ambient Electronica, Trip-Hop and Trance, alongside the more sublime and avant-garde output of artists who do not rely so heavily on the electronic side of things. There really is hardly any style, type or genre of music I do not like at least some of. There is material I don't like, and dislike with a passion at least approaching parity with the stuff I love - mainly anything that is too intentionally mainstream, overly formulated, or just downright fake and shallow - but if it comes from the soul, if it's played from the heart, there's a real high chance it will appeal to me.

But enough about my personal tastes, for like much in the world of art, music is so very subjective. The power of music is not really in who it appeals to, who it is made for or what niche or scene it fits into. It is the power of music to accompany key moments in life. Obviously life isn't a movie, but think of your favourite films - what would they be without the addition of the right pieces of music, at the right times - key scenes and moments? Music, in my humble opinion, should be a soundtrack to your life. Regardless of how it is meaningful to you, if you have a playlist for your life then it makes your whole experience richer and more nuanced..

Music is a powerful stress-reliever and can be a potent stress-buster. From simply being an enjoyable accompaniment to an otherwise dull chore, to soothing your soul when you feel totally broken, music penetrates through the layers of bullshit that our humble human condition creates, and it can often be the only solace we find in an otherwise completely negative situation in life. As an addition to the thematic discourse, a distraction from our troubles, or purely as a hedonistic escape, music is incredibly effective at helping gel together the stream of our consciousness with that which is the undercurrent - our subconscious feelings and emotions, and the unconscious which resides in the depths of our souls.

It only leaves me to end this brief foray into music with a quote which encapsulates all of this so perfectly, from an amazing musician who, sadly, left the mortal coil this very week..

"Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening." - Aretha Franklin



Copyright ©2018 Richard C. Greenlow. All rights reserved.