Life and Music…

Life is a movie that just lacks a background score

These were the words attributed to the all-knowing ever quoted “Anonymous”. Is our friend “Anonymous” wrong? Well, in my opinion he isn’t, in fact I find it oddly fitting. Our lives are filled with drama, comedy, and the odd bit of action, romance and everything that is required to make a genuine potboiler in the box office. Okay, most of you might think your lives aren’t that great but trust me when I say that you might think in that manner but in actuality everybody’s life is, in fact, a great movie. I’ll go out on a limb here by saying that I’ll be damned if there isn’t a part of your life that you haven’t thought would be awesome in a movie.

I know I’m going to get a lot of stick here for saying this but I don’t actually care. Movies are just a bunch of linear moving pictures that provides a certain value addition (or in some case depreciation). I know there’s a story and the portrayal of human emotions and cinematography which takes you places that you may never ever go. Movies allow you to live vicariously through the lives of the actors in it. We tend to relate to the characters that fit closest to our own lives and we derive a sort of pleasure from their actions in movies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hardcore movie buff and I feel exactly the same. But, I believe for a movie to truly take us along the ride, there must be a soundtrack. The music is one of the most important parts of a movie. It adds a whole dimension to the emotion. Somehow everything you want to say can be better conveyed through song. This has been well established by the Indian movie industry where there HAS to be a song that conveys every emotion of the hero or heroine. Music is the ultimate form of human expression.

Just like in the movies, our lives are somewhat incomplete without a soundtrack. Music is a very important part of life and I doubt that there truly is anyone who does not like music. Everybody turns to music at some point of their lives for various reasons – to escape, to feel safe, to celebrate, to grieve, to let go… the list is endless. Somehow there’s always that song that matches your emotions. When you listen to music at the height of your emotions, it resonates within you, the music and the emotions, like a crescendo and it just heightens the mood you’re in. It truly is the best feeling that a person can feel in my opinion. You don’t necessarily need to understand the singer even; you just need to feel the music.

Lyrics, though, are an important part of music. Lyricists take complex ideas and emotions and transform them into a couple of simple lines that say it all. Fun Fact: Almost 90% of all songs are written about one of the most complex emotions that can be experienced by the human brain, love. These songs are also usually written with such simplicity and such emotion that it makes the listener want to experience love. Some of these lyrics are just absolutely beautiful. Sometimes lyrics need not mean be understood. For instance, the song may be in a language that you don’t even know but it still touches you. I take this opportunity to make a recommendation: Sigur Rós – they’re a band from Iceland who sing in Icelandic and a made up language called hopelandic. I don’t really understand what that man, Jónsi Birgisson, is singing but it is so beautiful. When you translate the lyrics you understand the beauty of their songs. A must listen would be “Hoppípolla” from their album “Takk…” This song is nostalgic and no matter what mood you’re in you will feel good even though you don’t understand a word he’s saying.

Sometimes lyrics aren’t even needed. Sometimes an instrument can do everything. A virtuoso will be able to make his/her instrument do the talking. There are many instances where one single piece of music that just connects with you and a certain emotion. For me, as an example, I can say that the violin intro to the song “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve always kind of makes me feel good. Like this, everyone has a bit of music that they have related certain emotions to. It isn’t a conscious effort but more of a subconscious decision.

We’ve all made these subconscious decisions and we continue to take these decisions. Unknowingly, we create a background score for our life and complete that movie. In my case, at least, the search for those perfect songs hasn’t ended and I don’t think it’ll end soon. What I believe is that you too should never stop searching. I’ll leave you with a lyric that I live by and I hope that one day you too might find one too.

“All you touch and all you see

Is all your life will ever be”

Breathe||Pink Floyd