Why do YOU LOVE Music?
Why do I love music?
I love music for so many reasons. I love music because during the moments I have felt the happiest in my life or the most sad, and everything in between, a song has marked those occasions. Just by hearing another persons song, it has given me a feeling of a common thread to know that at some point another person had felt the same joy or sorrow as me. In times of joy it ties a celebration and dancing with other people together. Whether I was listening to a recording or creating my own song, music has created a memorable connection to life and to other people.
Why In The World Is Music Important?
In my non-scientific opinion I think the purpose of music is to tie together groups of people in celebration and as a a form of communication. Whether that is celebrations of life, death, strength, battle, birth, what have you, it is celebratory and communicative. It can be so many other things but I think that is the overall purpose. I believe Music is a part of cultural identity, tradition, mating and instinct.
One of the most exceptional traditions for music that I have heard about was an article about a tradition in the Himba community in Namibia Africa. Here is the excerpt I read:
“There is a tribe in Africa where the birth date of a child is counted not from when they've been born, nor from when they are conceived but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother's mind.
And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she's heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child's father, and teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.
And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches that child's song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child's song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child's song. If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.
And it goes this way through their life. In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when this child is lying in bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his or her song, and they sing--for the last time--the song to that person.”
Author(s):
Sobonfu Some
References:
Excerpt from: Welcoming Spirit Home: Ancient African Teachings to Celebrate Children and Community New World Library
Can you imagine how unique and validating it would be to have your family singing you the song that was written for you before you were born? Throughout the important stages of your whole life? What is your life song? Is there one that has already been written that you think of as your song?
“Music is the language of the soul.”
“ If music be the food of love play on.”
