Mystery Celebrities & Mystery Music

I'm sitting here in a coffee shop in Santa Monica, CA, and about half an hour ago I just happened to look up and there in front of me was an actual celebrity.

I had been told this might happen.

The problem is, I can't for the life of me figure out who he was. I was told that might happen too. I know he's been on TV, I just can't remember what it was. I'll let you know if I ever solve the mystery. So far I have it narrowed down to the fact that he was in a comedy, and the fact that the show was eventually cancelled.

Anyways, as I work on this blog I'm listening to a movie soundtrack that has been one of my favorites for years. No matter what mood I'm in, this music always seems to meet me exactly where I am. And the older I get, the more fascinated I am by the role of music in our emotions.

We can hear it but we can't touch it and we can't see it. Sometimes there's an image associated with it, but even without it the right set of chords can suddenly resonate with us in a way no set of words ever could. Why is that?

I think of C.S. Lewis' quote about how strange it is that we as humans comment on the concept of time:

We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. "How he's grown!" we exclaim, "How time flies!", as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined, one day, to become a dry animal.

Could it be that music is a similar concept? Perhaps it resonates with us so deeply only because the true language of our hearts is something far more heavenly than beats and words?

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

1. BAC said the following at 11:07 AM on Aug 13:

This is a very interesting thought.

I love music and I have found that there is never a situation in which there is NOT an image assciated with the music that I hear.

I don't mean that EVERY song, whether previously heard or not, always brings to mind a specific place, time or person. What I mean it that every song, or instrumental piece, draws from the depths of my heart an image of memory, longing, joy and pain. Music can wordlessly connect itself to a lost loved one, a string of childhood summers spent on evening rides in the family car, or the desire for things not seen, yet hoped for.

Not all music latches on to my heart, but none of it is heard without painting a picture for me (even a distastelful one at times.) However, for the music that does touch my heart, I find myself thanking God for the gift of simply being able to hear it. Just like marriage, friendship, laughter and every good thing that the Lord blesses us with on Earth, I think that it can bless us with fortification and respite in the form of a taste of Heaven, and a longing for His nearness.

2. Megan said the following at 1:33 PM on Aug 13:

Oh man, I can't tell you how many times I've heard a song come on the radio, or listened to a CD and then been whisked away to a time in my past. When I have that experience, I feel the same emotions I felt at that time in my life.

I was a music major in college (for two years, then changed my major), and sitting in the middle of the orchestra (which is where a flute player sits) was the most amazing experience. When we played Ralph Von Williams' "Dona Nobis Pacem", I almost cried because the sound surrounded me.

3. Jonathon said the following at 2:21 PM on Aug 13:

You know what, I was thinking about this the other day and I thought - it must be the beauty in music that speaks to us. Movies, books, and paintings also move me in that same way. But for some reason music and nature seem to be the two most powerful communicators of beauty to me.

Do you find that music without words (or words in another language) often speaks more deeply than songs with lyrics?

4. Megan said the following at 2:35 PM on Aug 13:

Uhm, I totally mispelled the composer's name. It's definitely Ralph Vaughan Williams.

5. Emma said the following at 3:29 PM on Aug 13:

I love this post! I often find myself editing my 'life soundtrack' in my head. I don't know why I'm so taken by music. I am the lest musical person I know, but maybe thats its. I'm fascinated by the ability to move people in such ways, that I am not able to do.

6. Amber said the following at 4:36 PM on Aug 13:

Wow! That's so funny because I was thinking about this today. I was driving and listening to a band that I absolutely love and wondered what is it about their music that has captured me in some way. I don't know, but I always go back to their stuff (❤ coldplay).

Also, even if I hear a chord in a song that catches me off guard because I think it's beautiful, I always wonder why and I most definitely play it again.

#3 Jonathan asked, "Do you find that music without words (or words in another language) often speaks more deeply than songs with lyrics?"

Yeah, I've been listening to a lot of instrumental music (chill electronic, that stuff that mostly British and French people are good at creating) and it's got me hooked. The Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo are my favorite so far.

7. Mary said the following at 9:53 PM on Aug 15:

I'm always a bit unsure how to answer the question "So, what kind of music do you like?" because the real answer is, "Music that has the power to break my heart or put it back together again. Music in whose melodies and words I hear the voice of my God calling out and meeting me exactly when and where I need him. Music that sends a chill down my spine or makes my heart beat faster just thinking of the first person I ever danced to that song with, or the last time I heard it with friends now far away. Music that sounds like the song my soul might sing when it comes before the Lord. Music that reminds me just how good it is to be alive." But of course that takes a while longer to say and sounds a tiny bit more cheesy than "Oh, y'know, a little bit of everything" ^_^

PS. Jonathan (#3), that is completely true for me, though I usually "get more" out of foreign music in a language I actually speak and it depends some on the language - Hindi and Spanish, for example, both seem to speak to me more than my native English, while Japanese tends to do nothing for me (though that, I must admit, may have more to do with my relative degrees of fluency in those languages than anything else!)

8. Kathy said the following at 9:55 PM on Aug 15:

When I was in high school and college I pretty much sang incessantly (and I do mean incessantly). Whenever anything would happen that would make me anxious, sad or angry, I'd go to my room, pull out my guitar (which I played very poorly) and start belting out songs (my poor family!). It didn't matter what I sang-I wasn't even really paying attention to the lyrics-just the fact of singing was healing. After a couple of hours, I would have found a peace that I couldn't seem to find anywhere else in my life. I have no doubt that God was reaching into my heart through music in those moments and healing me, nor that my singing was really my own indirect efforts to reach out to Him.

I don't quite sing AS much nowadays=), but music is still every bit as profoundly spiritual and healing as it has ever been for me. I just find myself crying out less and listening more. There are times when I'll hear a chord or a texture of a sound and it will literally feel like its piercing my heart. In those moments, much like Megan (#2), I can hardly hold back the tears. But its not from sadness. It's from being overwhelmed by the beauty of the music that, at that moment, is almost palpable. Then there are voices like Sam Cooke's or sounds like Coltrane playing _In a Sentimental Mood_ that have the power to soothe my soul within a couple of bars and literally make me melt.

How does it happen? I have no idea. Exactly as you said Nathan, it is a mystery. Perhaps part of it's awesome power lies in the very fact that it is so real, yet so beyond our ability to fully grasp it by our understanding. Perhaps it is because all that is beautiful and all that is truly creative in this world inevitably points us to the source of all beauty found in the Creator, Himself. And just as His power to reach into our hearts and guide us and heal us (and to always meet us where we are=) far exceeds our ability to fully understand it, it is nonetheless real, magnificent and amazingly beautiful.

9. John S. said the following at 2:10 AM on Aug 16:

I highly recommend Jeremy Begbie's talks on the relationship between theology and music. There is one on the youtubes, and one with the Veritas Forum (a group bringing deep questions to the college crowd) and shouldn't be hard to search for. He develops the idea that progression through time and a sense of "home" are beautifully expressed in music.