Nothing can move a person like music.
Think about it. No matter who you are, there is at least one song, melody or musical phrase that moves you every time you listen to it. A little fleeting from a popular track from when you were young. The National Anthem sounded at the beginning of a sporting event. A nursery rhyme your mother sang to you. The Sesame Street theme.
Music is directly connected to our subconscious. It affects us at a level that we cannot control. It is not intellectual, at least not entirely. No matter how complicated a symphonic movement is, it is the feeling we hold onto first. No two people can play the same song in the same way. Every bit of knowledge and history, their hopes and wishes, their pain and tragedy, translate into every note they play.
Music is also a conversation between the composer and the listener. This is what makes it so unique. What the listener extracts from the music may not be exactly what the composer intended to convey. Even if the lyrics take you line by line through a story, the feelings that are aroused can be very different in the person receiving the information than in the person projecting it.
It is this individual experience that allows music to become part of you. You will always remember your favorite song BECAUSE of everything that surrounded it the first time you heard it. Where were you, what were you doing, who were you with, what time of year, how old were you – all these factors combine to create something that is totally and uniquely yours. In a way, you will always own that song, because of your performance.
There is a notion that every piece of music is part of a great song, a collective gathering and celebration of expression. You can see how everyone brings their own to a party and everyone at the party can enjoy it. Someone can point to a cake they baked and say, “I made that,” but all guests can participate. And every day, more and more people show up. When they come in, they bring their own. Newcomers learn from what came before, but they can mix it up and add new ingredients, making something unique.
And, at some point, a new memory is born.