Wednesday, February 3, 2016

THE POWER OF A SONG


A song is so much more than words on paper, notes in a melody, a recorded track. The words come from someone's thoughts and in the case of a really good song with meaning, from their heart and their very core. The lyrics may tell a personal story that none of us know about, it may be someone's way of dealing with a difficult time in their life or putting their heart back together. It may also be just something that the writer came up with on a drunken night at a bar for fun. Music is so much more than what we "hear", it's what we "listen to".

We all have our favorite songs that make us dance, that make us laugh, that make us cry and make us think. Those songs empower us and give us strength to keep moving, to get up from where we've fallen down and stand tall again, and they give us confidence. Songs are better than any therapist's couch (unless that couch involves laying with headphones on and listening to those songs). They're personal, they're who we are and they're the songs that make up so many memories. A simple group of words with a 3.5 minute melody can take you back years to times you'd long forgotten about. Songs can be a virtual time machine. Music is one of the few things, other than love, that can change who we are, the way we think and what we do.

The next time your favorite song comes on, pay attention and notice how it makes you feel. Did it put you in a good mood? Did it make you forget about whatever was going on around you for at least a few minutes? Take the time to really enjoy what music can do for you, to appreciate the power that it has.  


- Jennifer Smith
Follow me on Twitter at @lovinlyrics

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