Music is more than a sum of its parts. When you hear a forgotten song for the first time in a long time, it lingers. Giving voice to your soul, it perhaps has the power to do so much more.
There you are, going about your day, and music is playing in the background. You could be anywhere: in the car, at the office, or even in the grocery store aisle. And then the music changes and it’s a song that you have not heard in so long that you had forgotten all about it.
This song, this is not just any song. This song speaks to your soul, to your vibe, to a message you need to hear.
Your shoulders and head start bouncing. You start singing the words. Maybe you even bust out a dance move or two. Whatever was on your mind two seconds ago has moved to the back seat. A smile spreads across your face, an instant mood lifter.
When the song ends, you need to hear it again. You think to yourself, “How could I have possibly EVER forgotten about this song?”
The rest of your day is brighter, you treat others better, and that smile lingers longer.
Music is a transformative thing.
It sets the stage for us to be our best selves. It delivers messages that would otherwise go unheard. Whatever has been weighing us down is somehow lighter.
All of us regardless of race, gender, age, or station are just trying to get by.
Truly, that is the message that gets lost above all others. Music gives voice to the universal struggles and commonalities between us all. Lost in the lyrics, swaying to the rhythm, the differentiators fall by the wayside. The answers we seek, often to the questions we have not even voiced, are embedded in the verses, choruses, bridges, and hooks.
Society spends so much money determining complex solutions, but often it is the simple solutions that are most effective.
Find some time today to pull out your playlist and search for those songs you forgot all about. Play it loud and remember why they continue to speak to you, even years later. You’ll probably wind up putting some of them on repeat.
Sing off tune to your heart’s content. Go about your day and spread the joy you feel inside.
Of course, I would not prescribe anything I have not myself tried. This post was inspired by a song I had forgotten about until it started playing on the radio on the way home from a family dinner. I’ve listened to that song multiple times since and each time I feel the same way. Happier, lighter. Like we are all in this thing together.
I am just one person. If a single song can harness so much, imagine the potential impact when that one person expands to a few, then a dozen, then a hundred, then thousands?
If we can agree on the power of music, perhaps we can agree on so much more.
Time After Time