Gaudette 1

Ethan Gaudette

Dean Leonard

English Composition II

29 March 2020

The Power of Music

On a cool fall evening last year I recall cruising around in the backroads of Xenia after a

bonfire with my friends. I often go out driving with no destination in sight, but how I ended up

in Xenia that night I’m not quite sure as I tend to avoid it. I was at one of the highest moments

of my life, I’d spent the whole summer traveling and sharing memories with some of the

greatest people I’ve ever met, I was in what I thought at the time was a great relationship, and I

had made it through a rough patch in my life that was my junior year of high school. I had

nothing weighing me down nor holding me back, but as I came around a curve I spotted the

house that’d I’d spent my childhood in, and I remember myself becoming less and less joyful.

“Reptilia” by The Strokes was playing on the radio, my favorite band during my white picket

fence life I spent in Xenia. My night turned into one of a pensive state of remembrance as I

headed back home. But it wasn’t the sight of the house that turned my laughter filled evening

into an melancholy one, it was the song. That single, upbeat rock song was attached to a million

memories in my head. Music is a crazy, mysterious, yet, beautiful thing. It gets into our heads

and is able to bring out of us every single emotion we can think of. It also unites us in its beauty.

I’m sure there is a song you can think of that brings you back to a certain fond night with your

family, or one that brings back memories of an old lover. Music has been and will continue to
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be an essential part of society and our lives, as it enchants us with its melodies, brings us

together through its powerful lyrics, and inspires us through its message.

Music itself and the idea of making melodies as simple as banging two rocks together is

a tale as old as time. According to Evan Andrews however, a writer for the History channel, the

oldest known song is a ballad for a goddess known as Nikkal, dating back to the 14th century

B.C. known as “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” (Andrews). Throughout history these works of art have

grown and evolved, as well as the instruments and vocals that accompanied them through

periods of time having come and gone in popularity. Something that music has always

remained faithful to though is reflecting the values, mentality, and mood of the society of its

time. The 1700’s through 1800’s are remembered mostly through their elegant melodies that

reflected the lives of countries like Britain and France. Artists like Beethoven, Mozart, and

Claude Debussy are forever etched as a part of these centuries through their legendary pieces

that are still enjoyed today. Today’s music however has changed in a great way, in what many

would argue is in a good and bad sense. Instruments are slowly stepping out of the picture to

lead the lyrics through today’s music, instead replaced by thumping bass and otherworldly

sounds sampled from every corner of the internet and even other songs. No matter how much

it changes though, it always has something for anyone to fall in love with.

One reason music has continued to play such a meaningful role in our lives is through its

ability to enchant us and bring us to other worlds. The instruments which produce music have

always filled our ears with a beautiful melody, and filled our minds with tranquility. Many

people argue that without music, while not meaningless, life would be very empty. Amisha

Padnani, a writer for The New York Times discusses the power of these melodies and their
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ability to take us to other places in her article on listening to songs in a work environment or

office cubicle. Music can help to stimulate the pleasure part of our brain much like eating a

sweet treat or smelling a flower (Padnani). Some may argue however that music can be a

distraction at times. But in reality it can also help us center in on what is important. Many

people enjoy listening to music while they work to help them maintain their focus. They may

use it to bring some light to a repetitive or dull job, or to drown out a noisy environment

(Padnani). I use my favorite bands to help me focus in on and liven up whatever I’m doing

everyday. I use music when I’m at school, gaming with friends, or even just when I’m just

tidying the house.

Figure 1. This was a study conducted by the Institute of Education in the University of London

on the effects music can have on children in their academic studies. As displayed in the photo,
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the children’s performance when background music was played was drastically better

compared to those that did not have background music playing (Hallum and Price).

In my recent years I have contracted something called Tinnitus. While it's only worsened

to the point where I took action in these recent years as my hearing has started to grow worse

alongside its arrival, I believe it is from an accident when I was a child. Tinnitus is a condition

where there is a constant high-pitched ringing in your ears, and while I’ve been working at

calming it down as of late, there are days where I feel like I’m going insane. Many people find

relief with drowning out the sound with another gentle sound. My relief is my music I love so

dearly. The moment an assignment is handed out in one of my classes, I will fire up Spotify.

When I’m playing video games with my friends, my favorite tunes keep me zoned in on what’s

happening. My mom is no stranger to seeing me shuffle around the house doing my chores with

my earbuds plugged in. Everywhere I go, the songs and instruments of the world accompany

me in life, keeping things from being too overwhelming or dull at times. I wouldn’t succeed in

as many areas of my life as I have without music to keep me on track.

A key reason people are so in love with the sounds and melodies of the world is their

ability to take them to different worlds. The varying sounds of guitars, pianos, and many more

take our minds by the hand and fly away to a place many people may never get the chance to

see or experience in those brief minutes a song is playing. Ion Olteanu, a very popular

Romanian guitarist, wrote an article on the power of music and what it does to us as humans.

The brain is wired to process music, and when the brain processes this music, it benefits the

brain in many different ways (Olteanu). When you hear jazz, it takes one back to the roaring

20’s, to when a genre was a key part of uniting Caucasians and African Americans. When you
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listen to a recording of a band playing live in concert, the background noise and more teleports

you to that exact moment in time. One of my favorite examples of this is Nirvana’s “MTV

Unplugged in New York.” This is considered by many fans of Nirvana their greatest live

performance. Kurt Cobain, the lead singer, chose to do covers of songs and lesser known songs

by the band instead of the hit tunes off their album, “Nevermind.” The crowd cheering and

whispering excitedly, Kurt’s raw emotion and love he put into his singing on that night, and the

various extra instruments that they had puts you in the front of the stage the moment you

close your eyes. The next time you are stuck at your desk wondering how to start an essay, or

simply looking to liven up the mood around your house, plug in your earbuds and let yourself

find inspiration.

Music has always proved its importance to society through its ability to unite us

together. There are many tough times in history where dancing and song brought people

together to help push through those times. But what is it exactly that brings us together? David

Greenburg, a psychologist and musician at the University of Cambridge and City of New York,

discusses this in his article on this exact question. “Not only does music reach us on intellectual,

social, and emotional levels, but many describe it as spiritual or mystical. The use of melodic,

harmonic, and rhythmic devices in music can induce a psychological state in both the musicians

and the listener that is beyond words to describe. Music can bring us back to ourselves, be our

mirror, and show us a side of ourselves that we may have long forgotten or never knew existed”

(Greenburg). Its music’s power and ability to influence people the way it does that makes it so

easy for us to come together, and lift one another up no matter what is happening.
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Amanda Slavin, a writer at HuffPost (Formerly The Huffington Post), writes about one

woman using the power of music to unite children in poorer school systems to uplift both them

and their city. Music Unites uses song to bring these children together as well as lift up their city

in unity through these musicals experiences and opportunities (Slavin). The company uses a

variety of genres and artists to get the students excited about and embracing these new

opportunities. In 2012 they launched the campaign to bring a choir program to underprivileged

districts in New York City, even partnering up with the Rolling Stone magazine (Slavin). Through

their hard work and the power of music, Music Unites has been able to lift up many

underprivileged cities and school districts year after year.

Everyone has their own memories and feelings tied to a certain song. As discussed

earlier, “Reptilia” by The Strokes fills my head with the images of a young me dancing around

the house and going out to various rock concerts with my father. “Hey There Delilah” by Plain

White T’s is a song almost everyone has heard. Most people’s memories tied to that song is of

a group of friends gathered together singing along to it out of key. Many funeral services

include singing during the service to unite the various people hurting over the loss of their loved

one together into one beautiful, bleeding heart. Your favorite café is always playing that catchy,

bouncy pop song that no matter how much you hate, brightens up your mood alongside the

friendly employee. Everywhere you look, society and people use music to help make the world

a better place.

Just as music can help us focus in on a project or essay, it can also inspire us. Many

musical artists devote themselves and their music to making the world a better place and

inspiring the people that live in it. Whether it be the timeless beloved music of The Beatles, the
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heartwrenching voice of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, or the gritty, headbanging guitar riffs of Rage

Against The Machine, these songs rejuvenate and inspire us to create and put our best foot

forward. For many it's the lyrics, for others all they may need is to take a step back and listen to

classical. No matter the genre, these pieces of art all accomplish one goal, inspiring and steering

us into the right direction to making the world a better place.

One of the greatest examples of melodies inspiring us is Nelson Mandela’s 46664

Concerts. This concert was held to help raise awareness about the HIV issue in South Africa that

was taking place at the time. Jeffery Cupchik, a Ph.D. and graduate of UCLA writes a thorough

and detailed look into the background, importance, and history of the concert. The name is

after Mandela’s prison cell, from which he was incarcerated in for 27 years. The first one was

held in Capetown, South Africa, in 2003 (Cupchik). The concert was viewed by over 2 billion

people, and hosted well known and respected musical artists to headline the show.

“Mandela...chose the mass-mediated, mega-concert medium to deliver a swift and meaningful

message of change needed in socio-sexual practices at the individual level” (Cupchik). Not only

did these concerts raise awareness towards HIV, but it brought people together. Artists and

people from all reaches of the world attended this concert, and united together as one to

inspire people around the world to take action and awareness. Musical artists have made whole

songs to inspire listeners and call for a change as well. Some of the most well known of these

songs are “Imagine” by John Lennon, and “Times They Are A-Changin’” by Bob Dylan. As the

world only seems to grow further apart, music inspires people to come together again.

Music itself inspired me to start one of my favorite hobbies, the guitar. Growing up

around my dad meant listening to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and many more classic rock bands.
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The one instrument that always fascinated me was the guitar, and at the age of 9 I began. From

then on I fell in love with something I continue to keep playing today, and just as I inspire others

when I play for them, those bands all inspired me to pick it up in the first place. Aside from

playing for others, I often play my guitar to find inspiration for myself. Those old melodies that

once inspired me I am now playing myself, finding a new meaning in them as I do. So next time

you are lost, step back, play one of your favorite songs, and find solitude and creativity in the

beauty.

Some people don’t get as much out of music as others. The tunes to them are just

another form of art, an escape for people who can’t face the world. Furthermore, some believe

that music is detrimental to learning, but it is important to not find yourself using it as an

excuse to get sidetracked. It’s important to use it in moderation as well. Padnani’s article on

music in the workplace discusses this. One of the studies Padnani uses in her article conducted

by Teresa Lesiuk, a music professor at the University of Miami, looks into productivity while one

is listening. It was found that people who listened to music were much faster in finishing their

work as well as coming up with improved ideas compared to those who didn't listen, since their

moods were in fact improved by listening to it (Padnani). Though it is important to consider

your surroundings and others around you when listening. If you have rap with heavy bass

pumping into your ears, chances are that you cannot hear your teacher now yelling at you.

Playing it at an acceptable level, minding your surroundings, and listening in moderation all

contribute to a happy workplace where it is far from detrimental to learning and productivity.

In fact, the study from which the graph was used earlier explores this as well. A second study

was conducted on misbehavior from students with and without music. “Correlations carried out
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between the number of completed maths problems and the number of rule breaking incidents

revealed a significant negative association...this negative association suggests that the

improvement in mathematics performance, in part, was related to the improvement in

behaviour” (Hallum and Price).

I was driving home late at night in the middle of winter. I was angry and frustrated with

the rude customers, stressful conditions, and lazy coworkers that made up my job. I had

recently found myself listening to Radiohead, my now favorite band after my dad found some

of his old records and handed them down to me. Buried in the mass of the albums of all the

bands my father regularly listened to was their album “OK Computer,” an album that’s in the

Music Hall of Fame today, and for good reason. Having put the band on shuffle play a dreadfully

eerie violin suddenly filled my car’s cabin. That was the first time I heard “How to Disappear

Completely,” a song I'm still in love with to this day. In that moment I was calm, and I was

happily withdrawn from my surroundings. That single song is what made me get as involved

and invested as I am with music today. I pulled into my driveway rejuvenated, calm, and most

importantly, healed. A single song changed an entire day of stress and frustration into one of

sanctity. The next time you feel like you are at your breaking point, step back from the stressful

world around you, put in those earbuds, and let your soul heal through the most beautiful form

of art.
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Works Cited

Andrews, Evan. “What Is the Oldest Known Piece of Music?” History.com, A&E Television
Networks, 18 Dec. 2015, www.history.com/news/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-music.
Accessed 26 Mar. 2020.

Cupchik, Jeffery W. “Article: Mandela's Inaugural 46664 Mega-Concert – A Second Long Walk
to Freedom – Sounding Out Narratives of Empowerment, Religion and Public Health at Queen,
Bono, and Nelson Mandela's Campaign Launch Concert to Combat HIV/AIDS.” Echo, 2019,
www.echo.ucla.edu/article-mandelas-inaugural-46664-mega-concert-a-second-long-walk-to-
freedom-sounding-out-narratives-of-empowerment-religion-and-public-health-at-queen-bono-and-
nelson-mandela/. Accessed. 6 April 2020.

Greenberg, David M. “What Is Music...Exactly?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 3 Aug.

2017, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-music/201608/what-is-music-exactly.
Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

Hallum, Susan, and Price, John. “Can Listening to Background Music Improve Children's
Behaviour and Performance in Mathematics?” Education-Line, 4 Feb. 1998,
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www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000469.htm. Accessed 26 Mar. 2020.

Olteteanu, Ion. "The formative function of musical interactions within social identity."
Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, vol. 3, no. 1, 2011, p. 215+. Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/apps/doc/A267134572/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=1dcf2f7d. Accessed 1 Mar.. 2020.

Padnami, Amisha. “The Power of Music, Tapped in a Cubicle.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/jobs/how-music-can-improve-worker-productivity-
workstation.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

Slavin, Amanda J. “Uniting Through Music.” HuffPost, Verizon Media, 16 July 2012,
www.huffpost.com/entry/uniting-through-music_b_1521259. Accessed 26 Mar. 2020.