The Sound of Expression

When people talk about art, they point out how it conveys many different emotions, and how the artist reflects their personal emotion into the piece of work itself. In life, some emotions cannot be described or put into words; rather they can only be represented through things like paintings, films, sculptures, photos and songs. Some feelings are far too strong or complex to be measured by merely speaking of them, and instead people choose to express these feelings through the various media of art. I think that the medium of art that is able to communicate the most amount of emotion- that kind of intangible and indescribable emotion that surrounds people’s worlds- is music. I believe that music has an immensely profound impact on my life, and that it expresses the inexpressible aspects of life.

There are countless genres of music that exist today, ranging from classical rock to country, from punk to hip hop, from reggae to blues. Seemingly infinite artists fall under these categories and new music and bands emerge every day. With all these types of music that sound far different from each other, it would appear that they have very little in common. However, all these genres share one distinct feature: each and every piece of music contains powerful emotion, and the songs are all written with the intent to express some sort of feeling or sentiment. Often times, the message of the song is embedded deep within the lyrics, the notes of the instruments, the harmony of all the artists together and the overall composition of the song. Collectively, all of these things combine to create a certain incredible display of emotion and meaning, something to which mere description cannot even compare. By adding these extra elements, someone can almost feel the music and with each measure of the song can connect with the artist in a sense.

It is these emotions found within music that I can strongly relate to, and I can think of nothing else that contains the type of power and meaning heard in music. The ability to put on my headphones and drown out the confusion and negativity of the rest of the world is something deeply important to me. It seems that no matter what I’m feeling at the moment, there is always some song to match my emotions; to make me feel better or give me the type of exhilaration or boost I need at the time. Music seems to be able to say the things that people simply cannot and it has a sort of tangible and realistic aspect to it that makes it so heartening and comforting. Not only can it provide this sort of reassuring sentiment, but music also contains new, refreshing ideas and beliefs. Lyrics of a poem can be immensely powerful, and when coupled with the additional energy and strength of music, can lead to a hugely influential piece of work. Music has the capability to move people in an unexplainable way; to make them cry and to make them smile; to give them hope and to give them new life; to be there no matter the circumstances and ultimately to make them fall in love with a piece of art. It is this immeasurably significant impact that something so seemingly simple as music has had, and though it is just entertainment for some, it has been something life-changing and significant in my life.