Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent

Last night, my friend suggested I check out My Morning Jacket’s version of Elvis’s Suspicious Minds. I was instantly given the chills and I even ended up tearing up towards the middle of the song. I’ve heard this song many many times before, and I know the lyrics, and I’ve never been moved in this way by it. I began thinking about music and I tried to pinpoint why we many have more powerful feelings or connections with particular songs. Is it the melody that catches us, the lyrics, the instruments, or even the artists themselves? I just don’t know…I guess it is a combination sometimes.

I got to work this morning and started talking to my music buddy Bob about this question. He definitely agreed that it is a combination of the above, but confirmed it is the melody that will catch him first. I am not sure if I 100% agree with this. I mean…this song in particular, Suspicious Minds, is pretty much sung in the same melody in both versions, a little different yes, but mostly the same. And never has it really hit me before. So is it the lyrics, or the way MMJ sang it that made me feel this way? I don’t know. I just don’t get it. Is there something that stimulates the mind that sends messages to make you feel this way?

So then I get to thinking about why certain types of music make you feel at ease, happy, sad, and so on. Have you ever heard a song that is really old and reminds you of a certain memory or feeling that you once experienced in time? I can pretty much go on forever with questions like these and I probably shouldn’t try to understand this, but I figure it is pretty healthy to fill my mind with such thoughts. Why did I not study music/art therapy in college…shit?!

The other day my friends and I had a discussion about why particular shows leave a more lasting impression than others. We probably could have talked about this for hours upon hours. There are definitely not right or wrong answers to any of these questions but I am just glad that I have people in my life that appreciate and love music the way that I do. So….I will continue to continue to think…and know that music is just, yea I said it, fucking rad.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.