Art is such an instrumental part of my life. On a daily basis, my emotions and state of mind are impacted by different forms of art, especially music. For me, music is the most influential art form in the world.
There are certain songs that I listen to that instantly make me feel a certain way. For instance, every time I listen to Canon in D Major by Pachabel or Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley I instantly start crying. The way the song is sung, in the case of Hallelujah, or how the music conveys an emotion, like with Canon, invokes a certain feeling within the listener that is overwhelmingly powerful and pure.
Music can also solidify memories and take one back to a certain place and time. When I was little, every Sunday morning, I would wake up to the smell of blueberry pancakes cooking in the kitchen and the voice of James Taylor playing on the record machine (yes as I child my parents had a record player). Still to this day, whenever I hear James Taylor, which happens to be a lot now that I live in the Bershires, I can instantly smell blueberry pancakes, and I get this feeling of nostalgia.
However, the greatest thing about music, in my opinion, is it can bring people together. Often, it becomes the voice of a generation. Songs like Imagine or Respect transcend time, and thus come to stand for so much more than just songs. They are calls for peace, for love, for action, for understanding and in some cases for help and compassion. In many respects, they come to take on a life of their own, because their message is immortal.
Q: Why does music generate or invoke certain emotions in the listener?
Music can generate or invoke emotions in the listener for a couple different reasons. One reason might be the song triggers memories, such as people and events. These different memories would then most likely be the reason for the emotions. For example if you and your partner have/ had a song together than every time you heard that song you would not only be reminded of the person and some of the different events you were at together when that song was playing. My friend who pasted away about a year ago use to play the piano so whenever I heard a song that he use to play I always think of him and although it may make me smile it makes me sad too because e isn’t here anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason why it may seem like the music we listen to generates different emotions is because we choose the type of music we listen to based on how we feel and these songs just make theses emotions even stronger. For example many people when they break up with someone usually listen to love songs because they are upset. Another example would be is usually when people are happy they listen to more fast pace and upbeat music. I know this is true for me and when I am upset with my dad I listen to the song titled “Father of Mine” by Everclear. It all depends on how you use music to cope.
Question:
What about smells that generate memories and emotions??