A life without music
So the other day I was sat in a coffee shop waiting for a train. To my left was a table full of kids varying in age and a man and a woman sat opposite them asking them some pretty intense questions, intense for a bunch of kids anyway.
It then occurred to me that with my back to them I was not hearing any responses from the kids whatsoever. I turned around to see they were instead doing sign language. The penny dropped; they were deaf.
It must have been some sort of interview they were conducting, the woman was the translator to the man’s questions. Back to minding my own business but one more glance over and I catch the woman say: “he doesn’t really know what music is”.
That sentence hit me so hard. Not because I am a huge music enthusiast or anything, just because for a split second I found that absolutely impossible to conceptualize: a life without music. Not even knowing what music is? One can only assume this kid was born deaf but this was certainly a moment that made me all of a sudden, super grateful and appreciative of my hearing, that I can experience the phenomenon which is music.
Which in turn got me thinking, naturally. Why is it that music has such a powerful effect on us? At the end of the day is it not fundamentally just the air vibrating at certain pitch, rhythm, timing etc.
The subjectivity of music
Perhaps the most impressive thing to me is how subjective music is. Much like the food we eat to the clothes we wear, everyone will have their own personal preference. But I mean this on a really deep level. Not just
“Yeah I don’t mind some of his stuff, a few of his songs are good”
I mean on an almost physiological level, why is it that you make two different people listen to the same piano Symphony, one of them can’t wait for this simplistic social experiment to end while the other has got goosebumps as the music resonates with them so strongly.
That is what amazes me. Our exposure to music is non stop. While in shops, radio in the car and other public places, the list goes on. And even when we aren’t exposed to it, we still actively choose to whack those massive Beats by Dre headphones and turn up the bass on our favourite tune. Trust me, I’m no different, I’m practically a human iPod. Everywhere I go listening to music is a constant with me, at every opportunity. In fact I would go as far to say my greatest flaw is over playing a new found song that I really like so much that within a week I can’t stand it.
So thanks to that boy I literally could not imagine going about my day without music, let alone my music. I know other people will agree with me when it’s actually perceived as a bit of a boost, a form of fuel to your day if you will. And in that sense we are just like cars. Different cars require different petrol. Some people need that gangster rap while others can’t get through the day without their dose of cheesy pop. You look around the gym and I would say 90% of people are listening to their music. What an incredible amount of variety that must conjour. Well, I’d like to ask them could you do this here today without your music? Could you do this if you had to listen to someone else’s music? I’d be curious to hear their responses.
In summary, that one moment made me realise I certainly take things like that for granted. As I’ve gotten older I have definitely started to appreciate things more, but that is something so ‘under the radar’ that I would have never even considered before. There’s people out there who don’t know what music even is. I would be inclined to say that sadly they are missing out on that unique, personal connection with vibrating air.