What Happens When You Listen to Music?

I think most people will agree that no two writers have the same process. However, something that I often forget is people also have different ways to appreciate music. 

Below is a quote from the introduction to "The Poetry of Pop" by Adam Bradley.

 "The songs themselves are secondary; they call us to experiences rather than being experiences. We half listen, but our attention is elsewhere. Some of us also listen in a different way. We obsess over a certain song, even over individual words and sounds in the song. We play songs in remembrance of celebration. We listen live at concerts, or learn to play favorite songs for ourselves. Sometimes we choose these encounters; at other times they surprise us, commanding thought and feeling. Such songs comprise another soundtrack, a collection of memories accessible only through sound." 

The author then takes the reader on a journey through the experiences certain songs trigger for him, such as "Little April Shower" from the movie Bambi, Guns n' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle," and "Triumph" by Wu-tang Clan. 

Bradley describes something I have never experienced but have heard about from my family. Music can take you on a trip to past events deepening your memory with emotion. My older sister is taken to her drive home from dive practice, her senior year of high school, when she listens to "I'm Goin' Down" by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. When my twin listens to any song from Barns Courtney's "The Attractions of Youth," she is transported to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. If Shawn Mendes's "Something Big" meets my little sister's ears, she steps inside her hockey ice center. 

I have never been taken somewhere by a song. I've been on a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. Read a story with an exposition, climax, and resolution. Now, while I can remember how I came across songs or the first time I heard them, listening doesn't apparate me to the place. I first heard "Good Grief" by Bastille in the snack aisle at Target. It was a song that demanded my attention. I didn't look for it, but it found me. However, when I listen to the song, I'm not standing on the white tile, telling my twin how good the song playing is, and a blonde-haired young woman isn't smiling over at us saying, "It's Good Grief, by Bastille." When the song first starts, my head clears, and everything around me dissolves. As it continues, the only adjective that describes how I feel is light, like what I expect clouds feel like. As the song concludes, I feel determined and ready, whatever task I was avoiding before I surely can tackle now. 

There are different ways I can feel if a song is good or not. Some make me feel light, like "Good Grief," while others feel heavy like I'm lying under a weighted blanket, "Wolves" by Ryan Bingham." Some make my heart beat way too fast, "Kicks" by Barns Courtney, others slow it down, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" but Death Cab for Cutie. Some songs give me a lump in my throat that I can never figure out, like "Let's Hurt Tonight" by One Republic and others really bring tears to my eyes like "Would that I" by Hozier, don't worry though, they're the good type of tears. 

There is no one-way music affects a person. I'd like to learn the other ways people experience music and experience those ways for myself at some point.

Thanks for yielding!

Until next time,

Alexis