What is Your Song?

During one of our busy days in office, my colleague, Mr Amin passed by my office and out of the blue asked, “Maryam what is your song?!” It was a bit weird “What? What do you mean?!, I asked. He replied, “Unstoppable by Sia always reminds me of you whenever I listen to it. You must have a song that you connect with too.”

I agree with Amin that music and songs sometimes can be associated with people we know, but I disagree about the song he selected for me. I saw myself closer to Thunder by Imagine Dragon when our conversation took place.

Music is a universal language. It arouses many different feelings and their associated physiological responses. It is a kind of communication and expression for human kind and appeals in our lives at all ages and from all cultures worldwide.

Music conveys messages and also emotions, and the link between music and emotion has been accepted forever. Music is remarkable. It is a way for us to express our current unspoken feelings and thoughts or to take us to live a desired magic dream. It also is a powerful on going way of uniting people. National anthems connect crowds at sporting events, and love songs help prospective partners bond during times they meet or turbulent times together. Sometimes sharing a song will express one’s emotions better than using one’s own words. For as William Congreve, the British dramatist, said, “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast”. Song engages the whole brain by decoding and interpreting the many unique properties that are the sound waves coming to the ear. 

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the imagination and charm and gaiety to life and to everyone else" Plato

You don’t have to be a neurophysiologist or cardiologist to understand that music affects the brain, the heart, and our circulation. Music played in different modes stimulates different emotions and memories and is a generality that most of us would agree delivers emotional significance in every piece of music, where that response is sad, happy, energetic or relaxing. Music is part of our way expressing messages and emotions, it can also be a therapy and have a role in lifting the mood as follows:

“Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

(Because I'm happy)

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

(Because I'm happy)

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

(Because I'm happy)

Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do”

Clap here if this song by Pharrell Williams, made you feel bright, cheerful and “Happy”.

The effects of music are not limited to feelings and mood alteration. There is also a more formal link between music and movement. Music and sport are often evident in the body of research literature that relates to performance and group behavior. There have been many experiments on people assigned to movement in time to music that have shown better results than performing those same movements without music. The same applies to runners and the different effects of hearing or playing rock, dance, inspirational music, or even no music at all during their performances. Playing music while exercising has an effect too, but there is no enough research (as far as I know) to confirm the effect on an athlete’s overall endurance.

Our songs and music also will vary based on our mood or our state of mind at certain times, as when I was a Thunder and talking to Mr. Amin. No other thing can speak of me now than the song Bones by One Republic. Ms. Najwa and Ms. Marwa, you gave me an energy I’d never felt before and helped tear down the biggest walls to put me in my place. I could feel your effect in my bones, literally. This by itself needs a dedicated article coming soon ?

While the word eMOTION reminds us of the motion that is a significant part of participating in dance and sport, we also move as we feel emotionally from the music we hear. What is your song anyway, and what does it convey about you?