Imagine sitting down and relaxing, your eyes closed. There’s a nice breeze in the air, neither too warm nor too cold. You hear the sounds of the beach – the splashing waves, the swaying palm trees, and the occasional beachgoer laughing. Life couldn’t be better. Then, you open your eyes and realize that you weren’t on the beach at all. Rather, you were listening to an ambiance soundtrack. The pleasant illusion is broken. Now, you’re back in the real world, sitting in your room with the fan on.
Because of Covid restrictions, many people had to be holed up in their house, wiling away the hours. Given how travel-oriented our culture is, it’s unsurprising that this brought about a big change in a lot of peoples’ lifestyles. I remember a time when I was bombarded with advertisements for different tourist destinations. Perhaps it’s just me, but I no longer see them. It stands to reason, then, that escapism needs a different form in these peculiar circumstances. For me, it is music that provides that escape.
Listening to music is one of my favorite things to do. I particularly like jazz and classical music nowadays, but even television theme songs have their charm. Different genres bring to the table different moods and images. The biggest difference is between music with lyrics (songs) and music without lyrics (instrumentals). Songs never just had lyrics – the lyrics were the entire point of a song. Outside of specific parts of the song like guitar solos, the instruments were merely the background for the singer. The lyrics formed a story that the singer told the audience. By contrast, the combinations of instruments or the specific pattern of notes played a key role in instrumentals. Depending on what I’m doing at the moment, either type of music could strike my fancy.
However, the most important role music plays in my life is helping me concentrate on reading or writing. Instrumentals are better for listening to while working because trying to listen to song lyrics can have the same effect on the mind as listening to someone talk while trying to concentrate on something else. Whenever I try to listen to someone while I’m in the middle of a task, I wind up being unable to do either. That’s why instrumental soundtracks are so important.
Of course, I’ve talked about how much I like classical music in a previous post, but some of it bears repeating. The complexity and flow of the instruments have to be listened to carefully to be believed. Theme clashes with theme to create a musical argument that pleases the senses and excites the mind. It can be as passionate as any pop song while having the depth that pop songs lack. Besides classical music, my favorite music recently has been ambiance soundtracks – videos with nothing but various sound effects and soft instrumentals playing on loop. I can listen to these pieces for hours without getting tired of them, especially when I’m working. These pieces put me into a contemplative mood and make it easier to read and write.
More than anything, these pieces make me feel like a writer. The image of the writer taking his laptop to a coffee shop to finish typing his project resonates with me on a deep level. I want to feel like a writer. I enjoyed coffee shops like the one in College Station’s underground area, even if I’ve never liked coffee.
Music speaks to the soul of humanity unlike anything else. It is more than repeating noise patterns – it reminds the listeners of emotions or images. TV theme tunes bring to mind the shows attached to them. Holiday music brings to mind nostalgic memories of past holidays. Music can be aspirational too, connecting people to idealized futures and fantasies. These experiences are what form the core of the ideas that writers express in their work. I wouldn’t be half the writer I am today without music. If you feel your life is lacking right now, I encourage you to try listening to music. It will take you on journeys you didn’t think possible.