The Power Of Music ( My Opinion Piece)

It’s amazing how the power of music can affect people in so many ways and I am no exception to the case. Whenever I happen to listen to a particular song it automatically not only brings me back to my childhood or adolescence, but I am reminded what things were like back when I was younger, how much things were simpler without the use of electronic devices such as cell phones or I pads, and even the internet. Music has also reminded me of some of the dreams I had as a child, such as dreams of my having become a classical pianist like the now-late Liberace. Another dream I used to have during my early adolescence was where I was able to visualize being a musical conductor for a symphony orchestra, I would daydream seeing myself conducting the musical orchestra with my baton on my hand going in an upward and downward motion in sync in the timing of each beat of the music. The symphony conductor dream would come almost every time I would listen to the “Hooked Into Classic’s” Album way back when I was about 14 or 15, it was surprisingly one of my favorite albums considering I was never really a fan of classical music, to begin with, but the above classical music album was and sounded more different than most classical music because it had quite an upbeat musical tone to the entire album without lulling me to sleep from sheer boredom. So as mentioned earlier, my dream of becoming a Musical conductor would appear off and on whenever the “Hooked into Classic” was played. However, I do not know who had purchased the above-mentioned album but sure enough one of my older sisters had introduced me to it and I ended up liking it instantly after having listened to it for the first time. It’s been about 38 years since I last listened to the album “Hooked into Classics”, mostly because I not only had practically forgotten about the above album for all those years but somehow the albums had somehow gone missing.

So, in turn, around three years ago I was talking with a friend something about classical music and how I didn’t care for it, and suddenly out of nowhere my memory of the “Hooked into Classic’s” record album I once had listened to years ago had magically popped into my mind, whereas I ended up doing a search on YouTube from my iPhone to see if it were listed there. Without the power of a miracle, I had managed to find the “Hooked into Classic’s” album the very same one I once listened to all those years ago. I got excited and started playing the entire 42 minutes of the album’s duration while visiting my friend. Once the music had started playing from the album a flood of memories burst into my mind, taking me back to my being 14 and 15 years old, being at home sitting on the floor cross-legged next to the family stereo listening to the entire album, or my having been reminded of a particular memory a school day during 9th grade, sitting in homeroom class filling out my report card cover while my  Homeroom teacher Mr. Russ, who was not only the school Band teacher, but he happened to have managed to play the “Hooked into Classic’s” album during homeroom.

As excited as I was to listen to “Hooked into Classics” I was immediately transported to my memory of not only being at home, but it also felt weird for me to be having a teacher play an album during school class hours. Anyhow, as I once again had listened to the above album after 38 years it once again had brought me to dream of being a symphony conductor, and just overall reminded me of how things or life were much simpler for me during my adolescence. All I know is not only prickly shivers had waived throughout my head which occurs whenever I listen to some form of musical nostalgia which was no different from any other time. There have been distinct types of music I would listen to, especially the music of the ’70s and most of the ’80s would always flood my brain with memories about something. For example, whenever I hear Paul McCartney’s “Goodnight, tonight” song it brings me back to the year 1979 the year I was 12 years old, and how I somehow managed to be lying on my eldest sister’s bed reading one of the many books I had borrowed from the school library, especially since it was when I had started to become a bookworm. And or by listening to the song “Reunited” by 70’s singing duo group “Peaches and Herb, which happened to take me back to the memory of my being in tears because my eldest sister had gone to Hawaii and how I was close and too attached to her. And finally, three honorable mentions for starters whenever I hear the song “Hey Jude” by the Beatles, or “What’s New Pussycat, “by Tom Jones I am automatically brought back to being 4 years old again. And finally, Anne Murray’s 1986 hit “Now and Forever” automatically takes me back to the year of my High School graduation. I get the instant flood of nostalgia when watching a rerun of an old TV show from certain decades but for some reason, it isn’t the same and so therefore when it comes to music it seems to have an unexplained sense of power with unknown reasons of its own for the magic it seems to create.

Another thing, it seems that the power or the magic of music has a medicinal effect on one’s own physical and mental well-being, such as an agitated autistic child being automatically soothed from their meltdown once the sound of music reaches one’s ears, the magic of music is once again indescribable which in no doubt is irreplaceable. I know for myself that music always had also calmed me down and just made me think or had caused me to daydream aside from it only just bringing me back to the nostalgia of yesteryear. I have always known or have heard stories about how when people do listen to music from a certain decade it will remind them of their first romantic date or even their wedding dance song which means I am no different from the others in how the magic or power of music has affected me except that it’s obvious my memories of nostalgia music may bring me will always be my own and different from other people out there. This is how one would describe the power of “Music” which would forever remain to never be underestimated.