Music Brings Us Together

Music plays a major role in our day to day lives, whether we actively acknowledge it or not. From the playlist we choose to accompany our morning run to the quiet hum of the digital radio in the back of the office, our lives always have a soundtrack. 

We all have favourite artists, songs we never get tired of, albums that we’ve replayed on repeat for years and albums we only bring out when we really need them. We all have memories tied to our favourite music; for me, I always think of being 15 and discovering my love of live music when I listen to Blaenavon, or think of chilled summer nights at the beach after finishing school whenever I hear Mac Demarco. I could probably craft an entire soundtrack to my life filled with songs I feel emotionally attached to or songs I feel relate to situations and events I’ve experienced. I’m curious to see my Spotify Wrapped this year after the collection of emotions lockdown brought; from Elliott Smith to Britney Spears, I’ve truly binged it all. 

Throughout time, music has always brought people together; the main way it holds the power to do this is through creating shared interest. We all talk about our favourite artists or about new songs we like- we recommend artists to our friends or family when we really enjoy them. The topic of musical interests is such a universal conversation point, that on most dating apps, users can link their Spotify profiles and share their top artists, showing just how heavily we rely on our love of music to bond with others. 

Another timeless way that music has brought us together is very literal in its intention- live gigs, concerts and festivals.  When we go to gigs we don’t care about who is around us, it’s just a huge group of people all there for the same reason- the music. Whether there’s a crowd of 50 or 5000, it always feels intimate. Individuals gather and stand huddled together in anticipation under dim lights, waiting for the opening chord of the first song. By the end of the artist’s set, a huge crowd of strangers are brought together, intoxicated by feelings of joy, bonded by their shared experience. These strangers will always share their own individual, personalised memories of the same event. I'm sure most people have one or two stand out gigs where they left feeling like this; for me it was The 1975 in December of 2016. I queued with my friends for over 9 hours in the freezing cold, bonding with strangers over cold pizza and shared water bottles full of booze stolen from parents’ cupboards. By the time the concert started, we all felt like we’d been together for years. I distinctly remember how overwhelmed with emotions I felt as they started playing the opening notes of  ‘The 1975’; I’m not even sure that was 100% music related emotions, the entire experience itself (plus the vodka) heightened it, which is the beauty of live music. 

What I love most about live music is this idea of strangers sharing their own personal connection to the gig itself but also to the songs. A major reason why we all feel a connection to music is because of the emotions it captures. We all know that listening to music can be an emotional experience; a song can bring us joy or sadness, chill us out or hype us up. Sometimes a singular song can evoke the emotion you can’t quite put into words. Of course artists intentionally craft their songs to convey deliberate emotions, however this runs even deeper than a creative decision. Scientists have studied this for ages, finding an amazing amount of links between our brains and music. 

 It’s been shown that listening to music and singing to it directly impacts neuro-chemicals in the brain through the release of dopamine. Listening to music has the intensity to make us feel motivated and uplifted. It’s addictive; it has the exact same effect on us as sex or drugs or how you feel after a really good workout. I recently saw so many Tik Toks where teens were claiming Kinneret’s ‘No Wind Resistance’ helped them write whole essays in one go; of course I gave this a go in a desperate bid to get my coursework done on time. As a chronic procrastinator, of course this didn’t really work, but I did feel hyped up to the point where I was motivated to get on with the work. Whether the song did tell my brain to work or it was a placebo, I definitely see that certain music can go to our heads.

 This is actually down to a release of endorphins; our brains crave the endorphins that were released last time we heard a certain song or even more, thinking back to when we saw it live and screamed it at the top of our lungs. This is additionally proven to be a driving force between music and togetherness, bringing social closeness. Remember back in March seeing the videos of Italians on their balconies singing the national anthem, or New Yorkers giving a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ at the start of their city lockdown. The videos made everyone emotional, seeing people coming together in a time of fear, confusion and isolation- they are a perfect example of music bringing a brief social closeness.

The amazing thing about connecting with the emotions embedded in music is that it can help us gain an understanding of how others feel and see experiences through someone else's eyes. A study by researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas and UCLA, found links between people’s appreciation of music and their ability to feel empathy. Zachary Wallmark- lead author on the study- concluded the big takeaway from the research is that the primary function of music is communication. Wallmark further said “It might be primarily about communicating with others, bonding with others and being able to express and sonify your emotions and intentions”. This instantly made me think about how we all have songs that we just understand, sure the song was written about an artist’s own experience, but we feel the emotions on almost a spiritual level like it may as well have been written for us. 

Through understanding the emotions within music, we’ve been able to use this to share history, politics and most importantly, culture. When music is shared from one culture to another, we gain meaningful views into someone else's way of life that we may not have considered before. We’re now lucky enough to be able to hear music from different cultures so easily nowadays through social media, it’s never been more accessible.  

Through this shared art between cultures, music has been pivotal in societal change over the years. This is exemplified through Billie Holiday’s poignant rendition of Abel Meeropol’s ‘Strange Fruit’ in 1939 when popular music wasn’t confronting issues of racism, or Lesley Gore’s rendition of ‘You Don’t Own Me’ that found new, feminist meaning in a song originally written by men in the 1960s. We still hear impactful music today touching on societal issues, allowing the rest of the world to gain a truthful understanding from individuals. These songs can provoke an emotional reaction from those of us that haven’t even experienced whatever it was written about for ourselves. 

Music has always been the most honest and accessible timepiece in which we can explore the unfiltered truths and experiences of mankind. Without music of all genres, we’d lack information, stories, subcultures and maybe even understanding of others. A world without music would certainly be a very quiet one, but one without expression. Everything would be hard to explain and nothing would make sense. Romantics would have no love songs and the lonely wouldn’t know we all feel the same. So blast your favourite songs, perfect the iconic Stevie Nicks shawl twirl in your bedroom, consider your guilty pleasure music just straight up pleasure, share a new artist you’ve found- you should appreciate it now more than ever!