MuSiC

Today's lesson on music has got to be one of my favorites-- it's definitely one I will remember when I reflect on my experiences at BYU. This was especially true when we Dr. Coyne showed us a study on tone vs lyrics. I absolutely thought that a song's tone would influence me a lot more than lyrics. Especially, when at times I love songs, but have no idea what the lyrics are or what they mean. However, a study with Professor Warburton proved me wroooooonnng. He found through an interesting experiment in which he created happy toned- songs with dark lyrics and vice-versa to his experimental group. In the end, the results showed that lyrics attributed more to an individual's aggressive behavior towards others when compared with the tone of the music. As I pondered on the surprising results, I realized that it would make sense for humans to understand and be influenced more by what people are trying to say or the content of communication, rather than the form or appearance of the music or speaking. Obviously, that affects us too, especially our moods and emotions. However, even subconsciously we seem to be socialized or seek meaning through what messages the artists are conveying to us.

This finding has a great meaning or importance to my life as I find myself relating to music today. Today's lesson taught me that I want to be seeking "healthy" or elevating music that can help me move forward. There are great songs in today's music that help me do this like "Gone, Gone, Gone" by Phillip Phillips or "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift (she has overall great music). On the other hand, there's music that contains high sexual content ("Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo) and violence. However, I think there's also another genre of music that keeps me from being proactive: Random songs. For the most part, these types of songs don't have an overall meaning or anything--- they have a great beat and are there just for you to listen to.

Such songs are like "I Love It" by Icona Pop or "This Is How We Do" by Katy Perry. I like those songs too, but I find that it's almost as bad, because I'm wasting TOO much time. I'm not saying these songs are necessarily bad or "evil" (I need to "turn my brain off" for a bit), but I think we should be just as cautious about what mindless random junk we listen to as well as violence, drugs and sex. This especially rang true to me after we had peaceful two minutes in class when Hailey (our TA) played a song for us on her violin. In those two minutes I felt entirely at peace, clear and not anxious. It was AMAZING. I reflected on my own music habits and asked myself how many times a day or even a week I had a moment like the one I had in class today. It's a sweet reminder that although I'm more often than not listening to uplifting music with good lyrics, I could also be doing better at making more time for truly peaceful moments with music. I am grateful for this reminder and hope that this next week I can take the time to relax, listen and allow myself to be filled with the power of music.