Soundtrack To Our Lives

Think of your favorite movie. Whether it is a drama, romantic comedy, horror flick, the one thing that supports each one of those scenes is the music playing behind it. Think about it! If it wasn’t for the score of the movie, you would never feel the suspense of Michael Myers creeping upon his prey, or get that mushy feeling when a love scene takes place. Whether it's the lyrics or the melody, music accentuates every moment, and makes you feel every second of the film. One might even say it’s the very heartbeat, bringing each moment to life. That’s the same thing music does with our lives. I’m sure that you’ve heard a song that just sends you down memory lane. People tie songs to special moments of their lives, like first dates, weddings, births, and funerals. But people also use the powers of music for simple things like cleaning the house or trips out of town. It’s the accent to each day until we die. Essentially, music is the soundtrack of our lives.

Any song that you can think of will play on your emotions, one way or another. It might make you feel like dancing or make you want hold someone. You may feel sadness or anger, or you may even get encouraged to go on with life. Songs like, "I Need You Now" by Smokie Norful, have brought me through stressful times by reminding me to depend God. Music can inspire someone to be all they can be, or make someone feel like less of a person. However it makes you feel though, you can relive that moment every time you hear that song.

What make music so personal are the lyrics or the message. Most songs talk about everyday situations that we all go though, like missing a loved one or trying to make ends meet. They talk about political issues, or dealing with an autistic child. Songs like “Papa was a Rolling Stone” by the Temptations speaks directly to children who didn’t have a father around and the stories the mother would tell them. Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” spoke to all the school age misfits that were dealing with less than understanding parents. You may be doing something and find yourself quietly singing the words to your favorite song subconsciously. Or you may use a song lyric to encourage someone. The artist speaks on a situation that you can relate to and feel, sometimes it can even feel like a song was written specifically for you.

A professional musician has the capability of making whatever instrument they’re using relay the message of a song with or without lyrics. One of the reasons why Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” album is a jazz masterpiece is because the entire album has a melancholy vibe about it. He was able to relay his mood and how he felt to people without lyrics, but by proper placement of notes and chords that just gives you that feeling of sadness. By the end of the album I found myself feeling “Kind of Blue” as well! But even songs with lyrics need a track that makes the words pop. Songs like “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson would not have been so riveting had it not been for Quincy Jones knowing how to envelop the words with the right melodies and chords to bring the song to life. Does that sound familiar? It's the same concept with a film. The score enslaves the very essence of each scene; it's driving force. Even hip-hop tracks rely on gritty beats and dark sounds that would place one right in the heart of the streets. The track sets the stage for the artist’s words to dance on and with the right combination; you have a living body of work that takes the listener where ever you want them to go.

If it wasn’t for music, we would not be able to express some of the emotions we have as people. Sometimes, words just isn’t enough to explain how one feels. Sometimes you need that one note, that one beat, that one sound to make sense of everything going on. We need the song that says “I love you” better than you would ever dream of being able to say. We need the song that prepares the soldier for battle or pumps up the football team. We need the song of victory for when our team wins the championship. We need the song that makes you wonder what went wrong with a past loved one. Without the melodies and harmonies that accompany our everyday lives, this world would indeed be a pretty dull place.