Curiosity is a concept that has lingered in people’s minds for centuries. Defined as “a strong desire to know or learn something,” curiosity often leads people to question concepts and ideas that are bestowed upon them (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). Music is a subject that people often strive to learn more about. In the realm of composing music, there are certain thoughts that go through the composer's mind that they want to showcase in their piece. When a composer writes, one can assume that their mood is often portrayed in their song, giving that song a distinct emotion. For example, love songs are usually written in two different tones: happy or sad. It is up to the listener to determine which tone it is being portrayed. The act of performing …show more content…
One famous example of this is the misinterpretation of the song is Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen. The controversy in this song resides in the these various aspects of human life that reoccurs throughout the song, sex, religion, and love. “Hallelujah means "praise God" and has been used widely in religious hymns and prayers. The main images of the song are biblical. There are references to the story of Samson and Delilah ("She broke your throne, and she cut your hair") and to that of King David and Bathsheba ("Your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you"). Both stories are connected to sensual relationships and betrayals, which might also be the main theme of the song” (Botta, 2010). The part of this song that has people curious is the sexual references. Some think it was more than just biblical ideals that he was referring to in the song. Multiple covers of this song have since been created, and some of the verses have been altered to give either more biblical, religious feelings or more sensual feelings, such as relationships. One could infer that this song has so much controversy or room for interpretation because of the various performances and revisions of the
There are a lot of songs to choose form when there is songs that break down norms and one that reinforce some. There are songs that mean nothing. Great songs always have a hidden mean behind them even if when listen to them we do not know what they are.
and its sexual content. Many people try to argue that the song has a deeper meaning than
Time after time it seems like people have tried to depict what our society true and often hidden image represents. One artist, Lauryn Hill, executed this topic exquisitely in her song “Mystery of Iniquity” produced in 2002. In this song she incorporates several verses from the bible n her lyrics to relate the underlying corruption of the law system on society and how it affects people. The first few lines of the song incorporate the same lyrics in the title where it states, “It's the mystery of Inequity, said it's the misery of inequity, said it's the history of inequity.” Here we see she uses these lines to introduce what she will essentially be discussing throughout the song as this expression is found in the book of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 in
The music of today has many songs in which there is a hidden meaning or stories behind the song. The song " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell is a song with a hidden meaning given much to talk about , another song which has a similar meaning with previous song is "You Do Not Even Know It " by Rick Ross. The intent of this paper is to compare song to song through its similar meaning. Both of these songs have a very rough meaning. These songs are inspired in hidden personalities , lies , appearances, violation , drugs , sex, etc. In " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell it talks about rape and sexual assault and all of these because of the use of alcohol and drugs. In "You Do Not Even Know It " by Rick Ross it also talks about how some people appearencess are not what they really are in
I want to discuss the function of music to combine intention and perception. I believe in the prehistoric, people sing or beat on the tough surface because they want to express their emotions, otherwise they have no reason to sing. Similarly, the composers also write the songs to express their feelings. Nevertheless, a piece of music which cannot trigger the change of feeling to audience cannot regarded as a musical sound. According to Thomas Schafer, "When people listen to music they usually try to attain specific goals. Those related to self-awareness and the regulation of mood and arousal are relatively important to them and those related to social relatedness less so"(12). From the research, Schafer get a conclusion that the music which can let people attain goals related to self-awareness and the regulation of mood and arousal will increase the strength of music preference(12). Hence, the function of music is to express the emotion and then influence the audience to let them have the same feeling as composers or performers. For example, Beethoven composed the famous Fate Symphony, or called Symphony No.5 in C major to show his determination to fight with the fate, for Beethoven the fate is the loss of his lover. While it is not the only purpose to write this symphony. The final goal is to move the
By no means am I a musical genius, I can not even carry a tune if one paid me to; therefore, distinguishing the difference between the tone, rhythm, and pitch of music is personal difficulty for me. However, relating to a character and feeling emotionally what he/she does is not a task that takes great skill. It is in our nature, as humans, to be emotionally moved by music. The sound, melody, rhythm, tone, even words in a song provoke emotions based on past experiences and current problems. Many people, most for that matter, use music as an outlet for emotion. Some compose, like Mozart, some write lyrics, others simply listen to the sounds and let their emotions as a result of the music.
There is a growing body of work in the philosophy of music and musical aesthetics that has considered the various ways that music can be meaningful: music as representational (that is, musical depictions of persons, places, processes, or events); musical as quasi-linguistic reference (as when a musical figure underscores the presence of a character in a film or opera), and most especially, music as emotionally expressive. Here I will focus on the last topic, for I believe it will be useful for researchers in music perception and cognition to avail themselves of the distinctions that aestheticians have worked out regarding the musical expression of emotion.
“Music” as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce the beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” Emotion, and the treatment of emotion, is indubitably an important aspect of music from all eras, but the manner in which emotion is expressed, has changed over time. Throughout the Baroque period (c. 1600 – 1750) musicians attempted to cause a specific extreme emotion in the listener, while during the Classical period (c. 1750-1825) composers sought to produce a balance of emotions. Due to philosophical and artistic movements that occurred, emotion, a critical element of music, was conveyed differently between the Baroque and Classical periods.
Many people don’t realize how themes in books and songs can be linked. Books have a variety of themes they cover; ranging from love and joy all the way to death and despair. Some may cover a plethora of genres in a single work. Like bookes, songs also have a wide variety of themes. You can always find a song and book that have comparable themes as there are a multitude of different books and songs to choose from. Such as Shakespeare's Othello where one of the main characters, Iago, deceives the other characters into completing his plan. Then another main character, Othello, eventually falls to Iago’s deception and is filled with grief after realizing he acted on false information. This story is closely related to the song “Demons” by Imagine
Music is far more than the sum of its parts. It can be thought of in a highly mathematical sense, which leaves one in awe of the seemingly endless combinations of rhythm, tone and intervals that a good musician can produce. Admiring music in this way is a lot like admiring an intricate snowflake, or shapes in the clouds; it's beautiful, but at the same time very scientific, based on patterns. All of the aforementioned qualities of music have one thing in common: they can be defined with numeric, specific values. However, the greatest aspect of music lies elsewhere, and cannot be specifically defined with words. It is the reaction that each individual has when they are confronted with their favorite (or least favorite) kind of music.
...se that although literal music may be a way to articulate emotions felt, we need imagination as well to improvise on many facets that may come our way. In the sense that one may read many things and in order to truly understand it, you need more than just a dictionary in order to feel that true emotion of music but you need a great deal of the imagination to fully understand the true meaning of the words spoken or sung.
Every day people are exposed to music in one form or another, whether they wish to hear it or not. For example, every time someone walks into a store, goes to eat dinner or something as simple as walking into an elevator. Music is always playing in the background. It can actually be somewhat hard to get away from it. Yet the music does not seem to irritate people, if anything we can use the subject of music to learn about someone’s personality. The question, “What kinds of music do you like?” is a universal question. It allows us to explore another person’s musical interest, which would then lead to the basis of a friendship.
Music: the art of organized noise. The blend of pitch and rhythm combined in different mediums and enjoyed by our ears. A very interpretive art, music isn’t very clearly constricted or defined by one definition. With so many varieties of music, it’s difficult to say what aspect is really the most important. Some people think music’s history and the appreciation of music are the most important aspects to take into consideration. Some think complex in rhythms and melodies make the best music. Some people devote their whole lives to studying one genre of music in order to fully understand how that genre works. While all of these aspects of music are important, none of them can truly be compared with each other on a fair playing field. Music of different genres, eras, and geographic backgrounds were written for different purposes, different people, and different settings. Still, there is still one overarching theme that applies to all forms of music new or old: the way the composer presents his or her creation. The performance and presentation of a work of music is like the icing on the top of a cake. The cake may be the best you’ve ever tasted, but if the icing on the outside doesn’t look appealing or doesn’t taste good, chances are you’ll take a different piece of cake with better looking frosting next time. The performance of music is what appeals most to people. With live performance, an artist must “sell” his or her creation. They must put smile on their face and convey to the audience that this is their music and through the music explain why it’s awesome. They must persevere through whatever the stage, the audience, and their surroundings give them and put on a good show. In today’s popular music though, this aspect of showma...
For Christian artist, there are two distinct types of music, one which lyrically deals with Jesus, also known as the gospel music, and the other category is the secular music (Howard & Streck, 1996). There has been controversial assumptions that secular music is subversive, while CCM is substantial due to its uplifting lyrics. It does not make sense to think that one secular song can fully corrupt a believer upon hitting his or her ears, but listening to music that directly oppose Godly values may become a stronghold in the life of the individual. The lyrics of this CCM possess its own aura of aesthetic value because it comprises of many praises to Jesus the Messiah, in encouraging individuals to worship and to praise. It is a simple, yet compact contemporary music with praises choruses and chants that can evoke powerful spiritualization and emotions among its listener.
...ide of people, which is generally excited by happiness in the central case (Matravers 174). Music is not the whole part of the feeling; it just causes it (Matravers 174). When the volume from the music goes up, emotions will rise (Matravers 174). As the music goes down, the emotions decline as well (Matravers 174). The connection between music and emotions are similar to a mirror (Matravers 174). Whatever happens to the music, the human feelings will follow.