The Sound of Music (Pun Intended)

                “When you listen to music, what feelings/emotions does it evoke?”

Music is a relief, an emotions evoker, a distressing tool.  When I listen to music and get into it, sparks of emotions trickle, all giving something different.  The strings of a classical symphony can strike hope or wonder about the inevitable.  The twanging banjo triggers homeliness and a longing to be with family. And Taylor Swift, well, she brings Taylor Swift feelings.

                 

     “What is your favorite song? Why? Is it connected to a certain time, event, or place?”

I have a lot of favorite songs for a variety of different circumstances, but my favorite by far will always be “The Call” by Regina Spektor.  In a poetry unit during 8^th grade, I had to do a report about my favorite song, and like I said all those years ago, no matter what songs come through my life, this song will always hold a place in my heart. This is the one song I never skip when it comes on. The song itself was written by Spektor for the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It plays in the final scene as the children are leaving Narnia, some of them for the last time. It is about never forget the place or the time that made you and remembering to return to that. For the Pevensies, it was Narnia, the place where they were kings and queens that shaped who they were, and where Aslan was. For me, it’s remembering that I do not belong on this earth, that it is just a temporary stopping point on my way to my home is heaven. C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” This song fills me with hope on the days when I feel like I don’t belong on this earth, that I will one day find my home.

              

      “Music has the ability to change the mood of movies, television shows, and other performances. How?”

Music can control emotions, especially when a person is completely engaged in what they are watching. Just the other day, while I was watching Once Upon a Time¸ I noticed that just as Emma was about to kiss Hook, the music got soft before going into a crescendo just as they kissed. As a viewer, basically made my heart do the little happy dance it does whenever is see happy love. The composer John Williams is fantastic at analyzing what is happening during a scene and judging how the audience should react to it, then using his music to make that happen.

               

      “Is music poetry? What are some of the more “poetic” lyrics you can think of?”

Of course music is poetry. Even if it is a terrible song with only four different words, it is still poetry. Music is words and notes strung together to create something for the sake of putting words and note together to make something. There are artist who can be better than others at it, and words that can carry through the ages. Some lyrics have the impact to start a revolution, or control it. The poetry people put together are powerful and can have great effects on people. Some of the more poetic lyrics I can think of are from U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” saying, “And the battle's just begun. There's many lost, but tell me who has won. The trench is dug within our hearts. And mothers, children, brothers, sisters. Torn apart.” This whole song is extremely heart wrenching. The lyrics bring the bitter feelings that wars bring, reminding people that what they are fighting about doesn’t really matter compared to what they are causing.