The first thing I remember is still clear as day.
I was sitting in my car seat as my parents’ Ford Taurus made the trek up the hill to my first home. The Rolling Stones hit “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” was on the radio.
As the angelic choir faded into the distinctive tones of Mick Jagger, I remember daydreaming about hot air balloons. With voices that light and airy, I could be forgiven for assuming the song was about a balloon ride.
I must have been about a year old.
***
It’s no accident that this is my first memory. Our perspectives and recollections can change over the years, but music is timeless.
Music holds the power of captivation — the distinct ability to enchant and entice. It contains the diversity to both maintain and break with tradition — to connect us with our past or send us soaring into the great unknown.
And much like cuisine, music has its distinct flavor in every corner of the world. But it also has the unmatched power to unite us across cultural and linguistic boundaries.
How can music be this malleable in function? The answer has everything to do with the sensation it invokes in us.
You see, music is bound by the duality of meaning. As with photography and cooking, what the artist intends to convey might not exactly match what we take in. We assign our own connotation, based off of our unique perspective of the world and our experiences in it.
This gives us the freedom to view music anyway we see fit, and for music to serve a multitude of purposes. It inspires the musicians among us to keep the wheel of innovation turning, as they continue crank out material that continues to surprise, delight and inspire us.
It’s what allows us to associate a Rolling Stones song with hot air balloons. Or an Alan Parsons Project instrumental with Michael Jordan. Or whatever the first song is at our wedding with the love of our life.
And ultimately, it’s what transforms music from a jumble of lyrics, rhythms, melodies and harmonies into something far more substantial — the soundtrack to our life story.
***
The power music holds over us comes from emotion.
You see, how music makes us feel deep down inside says everything about its place in our lives. It drives the narrative. For that feeling we get when we hear the right song at the right moment is distinctive. It’s special. It’s ours.
The combination of a piece of music and our emotional response to it makes for powerfully personal storytelling. This is why a single song can tell millions of stories over its lifetime.
A song holds the power to cheer us up or calm us down. It can take us away from reality when we need an escape, or sharpen our focus when the moment calls for it.
Yet, while our reaction to a song might be inherently individual, appreciation for music is one of the strongest bonds we all share.
This is why we’re constantly listening to music in the car, during our workouts or at the grocery store. This is why we pack arenas around the world just to hear our favorite songs live.
This is why music is a universal conversation starter, and why karaoke is a worldwide phenomenon.
Ultimately, this is why music matters to all of us — and always will.
Music is the soundtrack of our lives.
Play on.