“Music can heal the wounds that medicine cannot touch.” -Debasish
There are at least 41 music genres along with a plethora of sub genres for each. Rock, Indie, pop, country, blues, jazz, etc. . . and for every genre there are artists that use their talent to speak to people with lyrics and instrumentals, so music is viewed as therapy for many.
Music is a constant in most lives: the local grocery store plays a popular modern country radio station or the man you’re sitting next to on the bus is listening to classic rock rather loudly from his earbuds. Music is so versatile and various artists can speak to listeners in hundreds of different ways. Music is a form of expressionism. It presents different emotions in creative ways through metaphors in lyrics and changes in rhythms in the instrumentals.
Every detail in a song is meant to make the listener feel something. The tone of the song, in most cases, is set by the instrumentals. Artists of good quality are meticulous in making lyrics flow with the variations of the background music. Artists can also be vague with their lyrics which allows their music to be more relatable or inclusive. Metaphors are important in this case because they can just be up for interpretation for the listener. Taylor Swift does very well in doing this, especially in her newly released song “All Too Well (Taylor’s version). Her lyrics provide vivid imagery and feeling that make the audience feel what she was feeling when she wrote the sing.
Listening to sad music when going through a break up or having a bad day sounds contradictory. Wouldn’t you want to cheer yourself up? It’s likely people listen to more melancholy music when they’re sad because it gives them something to relate to. Music can put emotions and thoughts that are hard to articulate into words.
Certain music is also made to be relaxing. These are commonly instrumental-based with little to no vocals or lyrics. Classical music is often used for relaxing purposes as well. Beethoven, Mozart and Bach are popular with slow, serene piano and violin instrumentals.
It’s common for music to be used as therapy. There is such a wide variety of artists and genres that anyone can relate to at least one song or find a sense of peace from music. Music has made an impact on the world, and it’s large range of diverse options has made itself an outlet for millions of people.