“Sacred music allows us to touch the face of God, through our perception of the world around us,” he said. “It's a direct way through which we try to make sense of life and the afterlife, to understand and gain favor with God. The emotion is the magic that happens at that point of contact.”As I reflect on music that has moved me recently, I think of "Laughing With" by Regina Spektor. I'm mystified by her lyrics. She said in an interview that religion has been on her mind a lot lately so the lyrics stemmed from her thinking about God. I'm intrigued that she wrote this song as a way to explore God. The lyrics remind me how much I need God.
Regina is one of many recent artists who explore religion and God through their music. So many people do not know about God like we do and I think it's great that some people are trying to better understand God by creating lyrics and music. It's almost as if they are seeking inspiration through music.
I have noticed that songs with religious meaning provoke a positive and negative conversation among people. Regina's song had over 4,000 text comments on YouTube last time I checked. Among the posts, people wrote their personal interpretations about the song meaning and/or feelings.
One YouTuber said:
This is a gorgeous song that, in my own opinion, is trying to say that when people are in terrible situations, or trying ones, that they take God seriously for once in their life. Almost a sort of...."God is only funny when you're life is wonderful" sort of thing. That's just what I get from it.According to this commenter, human crises cause people to humble themselves and cause them to see a need for God in their life. It makes me wonder whether music is what causes some people to think about religious topics more than other types of media.
When someone you love is dying, are you not tempted to pray?
Question: Does music cause people to seek answers about God more than other types of media?
I think music does cause people to seek answers about God more than other types of media, because a lot of people turn to music when they want to be uplifted or get away from the world. I think it's great when musicians and artist talk about God in their lyrics, proclaiming their love for him that when times are hard they can rely on him to get them through the tough times. It is interesting that even a lot of top 40 artist who are not in the realm of evangelical christian music are singing uplifting music. These artist are just proclaiming their love of God, so if this will help get people to become closer with Heavenly Father and start praying to him, then I am all for it.
ReplyDeleteMusic most definately does cause people to seek out a higher power... more so than with certain media. Religious movies can be considered just "stories" and books often take more effort to read from start to finish. Music has the power to change mood, teach, provoke thought, and get stuck in your head. It's also more personal than a movie or book. The way the artist sings/writes a song is like sharing their personal beliefs. If the song they choose to sing is about religion, it's as if they are sharing their testimony. Just like in our own Mormon culture, sharing a testimony like that inspires others to search their own hearts/souls and think about what they believe.
ReplyDeleteI agree that music is a more comfortanble medium for exploring God becuase it can be interpreted the way we choose with less effort. It takes the simple act of listening to either the actual music, the lyrics or both, unlike t.v., movies, or books which demand greater focus. From my understanding, a song is like a poem. The reader of a poem cannot always assume that they poem is talking about the actual author. With a song, the singer/writer seems to say, "hey, here's something to think about," instead of an uncomfortable message through books or t.v. that say, this is how it is, so you should think this.
ReplyDeleteWhen choosing what kind of music to listen to, I often begin by determining my mood. Working out? pump-up music; feeling happy? upbeat, happy music; lonely? sad-ish music; going to sleep? soft music; just driving in the car/pensive? music with lyrics that make me think and have a calming melody. My point is that I don't listen to the same song over and over, but I choose from a wide variety depending on my current emotional and physical state. Thus, music often reflects and assists my mood.
I've often wondered how life would be when accompanied by my own theme music, although ipods are making this dream increasingly a reality. I think someone who is feeling "spiritual" (on whatever individual level or interpretation that might be) would turn to music before other mediums were explored. It is sort of the first step, it matches and clarifies your mood. It is open for personal interpretation, consideration, and application. It is non threatening, and most of all it is enjoyable.
I was contemplating this question as I left class yesterday. Music I think is one of the ways people do seek answers. I took Music 101 my freshman year and remember that the first forms of music were chants by monks. People have been exploring God through music from the beginning. Most religions, I believe, use some type of music in their services even today.
ReplyDeleteMusic does bring out more personal feelings and ideas more so than other types of media. There is something about the way you move your voice and the different beats that can create so much emotion, more than films or TV (which actually use a lot of music to create emotion). I did a project once about the effect of music on mood and switched out different songs that were in scary films to reflect a more upbeat mood. It was surprising how different a scene in a movie can become just by the type of music that is being played in the background. People can really express their true selves in the music they produce and many people are searching for answers and can do this through the medium of song.
Music often is a form of prayer as well. You can see this through many artists who sing about certain questions they may have or even sing about how others can find answers like they have. I would definitely say that music causes people to seek more answers whether it is the singer or the listener. I know we talked about how sometimes you can't tell what the real message is in songs, but once those messages are made clear, I think it can really make people think more than any other medium can. Music touches people on more of an emotional plane.