The Rhetorical Power of Music

brainpickings.org
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piccsy.com
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            When I’m having a bad day, and I’m ridiculously stressed and tense, sometimes all I want to do is head back to my dorm, crawl into bed, and listen to some music. Music has the ability to take you to another place unlike anything else. It is able to calm, excite, sadden, or enliven. My roommate is incredibly musical (she plays the saxophone), and though I’m not talented when it comes to playing instruments, I am entirely obsessed with music, regardless of genre. We both love listening to music, and it’s constantly blasting from one of our computers. It’s at the point where we can understand how the other person is feeling by what artist is playing. It’s not unusual for one of us to walk into the room and state something like “It’s an Adele kind of day.” And immediately, we can gauge how the other person might be feeling just based on the type of music they feel expresses their emotions. Music is a form of communication, a mode of expression.

Some "We Are The World" singers
billboard.com

 It is absolutely amazing to me how much influence a single song can have over one’s emotions. All it takes is one song, so powerful it can actually influence your feelings. A pumped up, fast-paced song can easily accelerate an already content mood to an extremely happy one. Music even energizes me; I have a special playlist on my phone specifically for songs I listen to when working out. A sad song can sink a mood lower, and emphasize a point, like the Sarah McLachlan song on the animal abuse commercial. Music can express views about the world we live in outside of just the melody. Lyrics, whether in a pop song, a ballad, or a rap, can be used to draw public attention to a social problem. There are countless examples of songs written to not only address a contemporary issue, but also help solve it. For example, “We Are The World” was rerecorded featuring 80 artists to raise money for relief effort and the rebuilding of Haiti. Music is an extremely strong rhetorical tool, whether it simply makes someone feel better, or attempts to change the world.