Music and the Beast

by Micken_2007

We’ve all the phrase, “Music soothes the savage beast”. Calm notes float lightly through the air, creating a mellowness that makes all other concerns seem frivolous. Music often accomplishes this feat. There are certain songs on my iTunes playlist expressly for that purpose. When I just want to zone out and truly live inside a happy bubble where bills, war, homework and climbing rates of unemployment don’t exist. Time itself stands still here. I consider this necessary for everyone’s mental health.

But music can also inflame that beast. Rousing crescendos popular in epic tunes like my favorite the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff or, appealing to my nerdy side, John Williams’ famous Star Wars theme or Harry Potter’s theme. The right music can promise adventure and excitement, or perhaps sating curiosity, lust, love, or justice. Music can be used to literally make people stand at attention, like when Hail to the Chief is played when the sitting United States president formally enters a venue.

It’s universal, even if all our tastes are not as harmonious. Like all art, music has the opportunity to unite across man-made divisions of religion, race, nationality, economics, even gender. Though I am not Catholic or even Christian, I enjoy listening to Palestrina and Catholic liturgical music in general. Aretha Franklin is one of my favorite artists all around, and her version of “Mary, Don’t You Weep” just does something to me. I’m not Buddhist either but hearing some of the chants of the monks and nuns stir my soul. My taste in music is delightfully eclectic ranging from KMFDM to Beyonce to the Gipsy Kings to Palestrina. I do not follow genres so much as good, quality music.

Music has a power that is often underestimated. Life has a soundtrack. What is yours?