Does Your Music Sing To Your Soul?

We each have our favorite type of music – be it country, classical, Celtic, new age, head banging, rock, oldies, etc.

Did you ever stop to think about your type of music and why you like it?

Did you ever listen to your body’s response to the music you listen to?

Do your tastes change according to your moods?

There is one song I listen to occasionally on the 70’s rock station, “The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia” (1972, written by Bobby Russell and sung by Vicki Lawrence).

The lyrics tell a story. The music talks to me also.

As this song begins, I get a strong tingling beginning at my ears and below my cheek bones. This sensation moves up to the top of my head, intensifying as it progresses upward. By the time the song is finishing, the tingling has increased to a strong prickling on the top of my head – very intense but not painful.

This is the only song (so far) that I have this type of reaction.

Not only do lyrics tell a story, but so does the music – and they often tell the same story.

Songs can be uplifting or depressing. They can agitate us; calm us; energize us, etc. They can enhance our mood or even change our mood – for better or worse.

Music talks to our bodies, our energy and our minds.

I’ve recently been listening to “Nocturne” (from the album “Secret Garden”). This piece is 3:14 minutes long and has only 24 words in it, but it talks to my soul – and my soul soars with the music.

If I close my eyes while listening to it, the music combined with my mind, create the most wonderful (to me!) imagery.

Have you ever been stuck on a song? It just keeps playing over and over in your mind– or you keep wanting to play it over and over? What is that songs’ energy communicating to you? Some people are drawn to songs that reflect their current frame of mind.

Listen to the words; then ignore the words and listen to the music. What story are they telling you? How does it relate to what you are currently feeling, experiencing or hoping for?

And what is your favorite song communicating to your body and mind?

Jan Toomer
April 8, 2009