Music, like art, can make one person feel many different things. How someone interprets it might be different from the next person.
Some songs really pull at the heartstrings and make you want to cry. Others may make you want to dance and feel happy. You might just hate some songs completely and others may be very relatable. “Our favorite singers captivate us with lyrics that have powerful messages and sounds that touch us in some special way” (Warren 1). Music has a meaning for everyone, lyrics can mean many different things when they are written down on paper. When they are sung they can mean something completely different depending on the rhythm, pitch, and dynamics.
Rhythm is the counting and how the song is put together, a faster tempo rhythm can feel upbeat or feel like someone is begging for something. A slower song can indicate love, sadness, or even happiness.
Pitch is how high or low someone sings a song. A higher song indicates something very powerful and meaningful. A song where the pitch is somewhere in between high and low shows a constant more casual feeling. A low song, however, can mean sadness and hurt.
The dynamics of a song refers to how loud or soft a song can be. If the dynamics of a song stay constant it is simply an amount of words that flow together and have certain pitches, but there will not be as much meaning to it. The loudness and softness is, in my opinion, what makes a song, a song.
Most of the time, songs have underlying meanings that most people do not realize until they really listen to a song. There are some songs that are not meant for everyone to love because they are meant to speak to a certain audience. Some songs are meant to teach a lesson.
Songs are made for a variety of reasons and people. Not every song is meant for everyone, but every song will create a feeling. People are meant to feel, and show emotion about things. Songs help us express these emotions, whether we hear them or we write them. How someone interprets them is up to them, there is no wrong or right way to “feel” about a song. It solely depends on the listener.
Warren, Cortney. “Music Is What Feelings Sound Like.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
