Music is one of the purest, most intimate joys in life. It brings pleasure to so many people, myself included. You can see people’s faces light up when their favourite song comes on in a way that I can only compare to their faces when they see someone they love or, you know, their food arriving at a restaurant. Same thing. In the words of Taylor Swift: 'You can hear it in the silence. You can feel it on the way home.' She was actually talking about love, but this applies to music too.
There is something about music which can touch you deeply and often without warning. It can conjure up feelings you didn’t even know were there. As humans, so much of what we do in unconscious but often in hearing a certain lyric or a melody we can begin to understand these feelings. I’m sure we’ve all had that moment where we’ve heard the right lyric at the right time, or a song whose melody just fits in perfectly with how you feel at that exact moment. You almost feel like the song was written for you.
From my earliest memories of listening to The Lighthouse Family and David Gray in the kitchen with my dad, to going to festivals with my friends, music not only connects you to people but it also connects you to a time in your life or a feeling. Whoever you are and wherever you see it, music has the power to take you out of the moment and connect you to something greater. I’m not spiritual, but it’s the closest thing I can think of to a spiritual experience, or at least what I imagine one to be like.
In society as a whole, not only can music be used in the health sector to improve mental health by reducing anxiety and helping people sleep, it can even be used for rehabilitation and therapy. For example. good vibrations (good-vibrations.org.uk) is a charity which supports people with complex needs in the UK by providing group music sessions. Music is even used in prisons as part of rehabilitation because it has the power to increase self confidence and aid personal growth.
Live music is especially powerful. I am lucky enough to have seen a lot of live music in my young(ish) life so far. Live music envelops you into a parallel universe. A loud, crowded and overwhelming world, but an altogether more exciting world. I’ve been to small gigs, concerts and stadium tours as well as many festivals. While there is nothing like your first gig, live music events still give me the same feeling as when I was a child. The overriding feeling for me is one of disbelief. Anything could happen at any moment and you are there, part of it It almost doesn't seem real.
Drake to most, Drizzy to the cool amongst us, @champagnepapi to his Instagram followers (free promo there Drake, you're welcome), and Aubrey Drake Graham to no one, is one of my favourite artists. The first time I saw him live I was 18 and, like many 18 year old girls at the time, I had spent the first half of the year listening to his second album Take Care in 2012. I think that was the first time I realised that music was more than just something that I listened to, it was something that I felt. It's the lightbuib moment that meant I could never turn back.
The excitement and the anticipation of seeing your favourite artist and singing at the top of your lungs to a song you never thought you’d hear live was, and still is, incredible. That feeling never fades. So, whether you’re more mainstream in your taste (I listen to Radio 1 all day) or not, there is an artist and a song for everyone and a positive experience to be had. You just have to find it.
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