Music has always been a huge part of my life. Whether it was listening to my dad’s old CDs of The Beatles, or singing along to religious hymns, or learning to play instruments.

Whatever I was going through in my life, music was always there for me. It serves as a timeline for events throughout my life, and when I listen to certain songs, it’ll take me back to different periods of my life. Like when I listen to One Direction, I’m immediately reminded of my cringey boy-band phase. Or when I hear “Tik Tok” by Kesha, I’m transported back to summer camp in second grade, when my friends and I choreographed an entire 3 minute dance to the song.

I believe music in all forms has the power to reach people in a way that other creative mediums cannot. We might all come from different backgrounds and have different opinions, but as soon as Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” comes on, our differences go out the window, and we’re all jamming out together.

Music is able to communicate emotions, sometimes without even saying a word. We often can feel what the music is expressing simply through the combination of sounds (instrumental, vocal, or both). It can be very comforting to listen to music and know that others are feeling what you are. For example, when I first discovered the artist Tame Impala, I heard the song “The Less I Know the Better.” In this, he writes about the pain of watching someone he likes, be with someone else. As the song ends, he talks about finally getting over his crush, until he saw them again, and now he can’t get them out of his mind. This perfectly put my angsty high school self’s experience into song form, and it was very cathartic for me to listen to.

Music not only touches people on a personal level, but can be a way to mobilize and unite them as a collective. The song “Imagine” by John Lennon was a humanistic call for peace which allowed people to envision a future where everyone in the world coexists in harmony. To this day, the song is used across nations as a symbol for world peace.

This reminds me of what Hanif Abdurraqib talked about in the podcast, relating to the importance of music in the civil rights era. He spoke about the “propulsive nature of music during that era” and it providing a space for black people to fully express themselves, and bonding them together.

Music conveys strong emotions and messages, from those performing it and listening to it. Although it’s usually seen as a more personal experience, music can bring people together as a community, invoking change in some way, or shedding light on certain issues.