Don’t Waste a Listen.
When I listen to music, I like to get the most out of it.
Of course, I produce and write as well, so there is an element of technicality when I listen to music. In other words, I listen to how the arrangements of the songs are, how well they are mixed, how well they are performed, and how nice the melody is.
But when I say I like to get the most out of it, I’m talking about the experience of listening to a song. Now I don’t want to sound like a hippie spiritual music listener, but music has a major effect on people. It IS a spiritual thing. Doesn’t matter what kind of person you are. You can be a hardcore ass gangster or a soft spoken priest. Music does things to you.
Music can make you feel:
Happy - (Jason Mraz)
Sad - (Tom Waits)
Angry - (Rage Against the Machine)
Reflective - (Indie singer songwriter)
Confident - (Hip Hop)
Celebratory - (Journey)
Want to party - (Black Eyed Peas)
Want to get freaky - (R. Kelly)
Want to kill someone - (Tupac)
____________ <—- fill in the blank
Now how amazing is it that music can determine the way you feel. It controls you. It changes your mood which can affect your entire day. A song can change your life. A song can bring back a memory you forgot about. It can do all those things listed up there. Songs trigger emotions. That’s power. Almost manipulative.
Going back to making most of your music experience…
Listen to the melodies. Listen to the instruments. They are easy and self explanatory. They hit your ears and you start feeling the notes in your body. They control you. You don’t need to make any effort.
Listening to the lyrics require effort. You need to think. Lyrics give the music more depth and meaning. They are the things that slap you in the face if you let it. Don’t waste a listen. Lots of people don’t listen to the lyrics, but lyrics are the things that make you fall in love with the song no matter how hateful and violent the lyrics are ;)
Let the lyrics take over you. Think about why the person wrote it. Let the positive lyrics influence you as a person. Let it change you. Allow it make you look at life differently. Let the lyrics make you better.
Let the negative lyrics show you how life is. Let them show you how imperfect the world is. Let them show you how you’re not the only one who feels what you’re feeling. Let the lyrics make you better.
No need to pay attention to lyrics all the time. Plenty of songs out there that don’t ask for your attention. In fact, some are meaningless lyrics - crafted to fill in space. I’m not talking about those songs. For these particular songs, let the music be the soundtrack to the moment.
All I’m saying is, get the most out of your music listening experience. Allow lyrics to make your music collection meaningful. Listen to lyrics.
