The Power Of Music
Music is one of the few universal things alongside food and sports, that I know that can impact lives significantly. Two people from completely different and random backgrounds can connect because of music; and almost everyone you know, you included, has a favourite track, that song that makes you nostalgic and reminisce about good times. The songs that you leaned on for healing during the tough times, the songs you made your babies to (wink wink), the one that reminds you of ‘that’ break up, the song you had your first kiss and dance to, the wedding song, the one your entire family jives to, the favourite song of a loved one, the one that has been on repeat for the past 2 weeks, the one you sang in the shower this morning.
Childhood memories
I have always loved music. In the Nigerian community- music is a must-have at parties- no compromise. I grew up in a home where as a child, music was always on. We were that family that sang Xmas carols during the festive season and I remember my Mum always played Xmas carols in the background when my siblings and I were home for the Xmas holidays (Boney M’s Feliz Na Vidad remains a personal favourite).
I recall playing some of my Dad’s highlife LPs on his turntable, I was active in school plays that involved singing in primary school. My older brothers being the teenagers they were then, played loud hip-hop music in the car when they were trusted to drive the family car (I particularly remember MC Hammer’s Can’t Touch This being on repeat in the car then). I recall my oldest brother and I sampling the Everly Brothers’ LP (All I have To Do Is Dream is my favourite of their songs), and my eldest sister playing and singing to all ABBA’s songs on the radio when it was just me and her at home after school- ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Chiquitita’ and ‘Thank You For The Music’ were her favourites. It’s been over 30-something years and I still remember these like yesterday.
I remember as a child, sitting in front of the TV with my thick eyeglasses watching Donna Summer sing ‘Hot Stuff’- the woman had wavy and long curly hair. I also remember that Whitney Houston’s ‘I’ll always love you’, and Take That’s ‘Want You Back for Good’ were released around the same time because I watched both on TV while writing a secondary school exam in 1992. I remember that my Gynaecologist listened to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ while he was performing a Caesarean section on me in 2012 when I was about to have my daughter- that made the whole experience particularly calming and relaxing for me I must say.
I have intense nostalgic moods when certain songs are played on the radio, and I can attach good or bad memories to some songs. Music has made me cry, laugh, hopeful, empowered, high (not that type of high guys…lol), heal from emotional pain, forget my worries momentarily. It is basically a stress reliever. I’ve leaned on music to help me go through some of my life’s difficult experiences and I have similarly danced to music when I heard splendid life-changing news. Music has been with me since day 1 and it shall be with me till the day I depart.
My favourite types of music are afro beats, Afropop, jazz, hip-hop, gospel, funk, soul, RnB, pop, highlife and dancehall to name a few. And various research articles show that music has positive benefits, 6 of which I am sharing with you in this post.
6 Reasons Music Is Essential For Your Life
- Music can help you unravel or come out of your shell. You know that one shy person who unravels when their favourite music comes on right? Or have you ever been to a music concert and connected with total strangers because you both knew how to break dance, twerk or krump to a certain song? Music can bring out your alter ego in a way you have never seen before, IF you allow yourself to be uninhibited.
- Music aids child development. I don’t know if child psychologists will disprove this but I have several videos of my daughter learning to take her first baby steps while trying to dance to a song. She’s older now and she still dances. Ever noticed how quickly children know the lyrics to a song after listening to it a few times, meanwhile you have been listening to the same song forever but only know the chorus?
- Music is a mood livener, stress reliever and can make you more productive. Relaxing at home with no TV on and the only sound is music in the background- sounds peaceful doesn’t it? Or bringing it closer to home, house cleaning is less tedious for me when I have music playing. I like listening to music while studying, I play it when I need to concentrate on a serious task when I’m at work. I generally tend to drive better when I have good music on, and the likelihood of me indulging in road rage is even lower because good music just makes me happy. I can even blow a kiss at someone who cuts in front of me when I have good music serenading me in the car (lol, just kidding, I’ll just smile and let them cut in for as long as they want).
- Music enriches your memories. We can all associate certain songs with certain events that happened in their lives and the nostalgia that you feel when certain songs come is priceless.
- Music makes going through the tough times easier. Have you listened to a particular song and told yourself that ‘as long as I have life, I have hope’ or that ‘he’s not worth my tears’ or ‘I will get through this’? Music can give you a different perspective when you think your life is going topsy-turvy- as it makes you hopeful.
- Music can be a form of prayer. This is the most profound for me. There are times when words just fail you and the lyrics of certain songs capture the unspoken in your heart- those are moments I am so alive.
I gave up on listening to Talk radio long ago because all the discussions of politics and societal ills were low-key aggravating my stress levels. I defer to other means for knowing what’s happening in the country and larger world.
I’m sorry if you think this post was going to be a ‘deep conversation’ that will unearth things you did not know about music. To be honest with you, I started writing about something else but veered off writing about music (don’t ask me why because I honestly don’t know how I ended up with this post). And because I didn’t want to discard what I had written so effortlessly, this is why I’m sharing this music post with you. So I can say, consider today’s post as FYI.
Thanks for reading till the end. Until we chat again, take good care of yourself and let music be your pain killer.
Have an awesome weekend.
xoxoxo
Image: Pixabay