Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Installment 2 Eric Jefferson


Eric Jefferson
Section 008
Installment 2
                                        I Believe: Music has Power

In my first installment I went over why I believe music has power. I would like to continue with a couple of examples of why I believe that is so. I stated in my last post that music can be used as a personal philosophy. Music can also be used to guide your personal philosophy. By that I mean hearing a certain song can help you figure out what you believe in and what are your thoughts about certain topics. Expressing what you believe in with music is a lot easier than trying to put it into words at times. Think of a song like “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” by Toby Keith. The song states how much pride we as Americans have in our country. Even though I do not listening to country music this song is a great example of how some people would use a song to express themselves.
Not only does music help you express yourself, it can be used as stress relief as well. In fact, listening to music to calm my nerves and clear my mind is one of the best stress relievers I know. Whenever I can't sleep at night or I'm leaving a friends house from a late night of Netflix binge watching I sometimes find myself just driving around listing to old or new songs. While I sing every word to every song on my music playlist I forget about all the financial or social problems I may have going on in my life at the moment. There have been multiple occasions where I'll catch a tear falling down my face just because the music helps me feel as if all the weight of the world is being lifted off of my shoulders. Music has that power to change a mood in a instant. It's been known to make us cry, laugh, or even guide some people out of depression.
In Oliver Sacks book “Musicophilia” he recalls a couple different stories of how everyday individuals are affected by the power of music. One of the stories he tells is of a man by the name of Clive Hearing. Clive was an English musician and musicologist in his mid-forties who developed a brain infection that severely attacked his memory. Mr. Hearing couldn't remember anything from his past or retain any information in his short term memory. Sacks describes in this tale how music helped Hearing recovery some of his long term memory. Just by hearing songs from his past he began to remember small things a little at a time. This shows how music has the power to help us on a large scale. Whenever I study or have any homework to do I always have music on in the background. It usually helps me because I play the same songs I would normally listen to in my everyday life and can replay them during the week of a test I may have. I can hear a song by Kanye West and while I'm singing the lyrics I can remember something I read while studying. Like Mr. Hearing and others I use music to my advantage to help strengthen my memory.
Music will always have the power to control us. Just as Oliver Sacks said “Music is irresistible, haunting, and unforgettable." It can persuade us to do things, change our mood for better or worse, help us recall old memories and people from our past, and even help us express our feelings and emotions about life.

First Installment -  http://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/04/section-8-installment-1-eric-jefferson.html

Comment 1 - https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/05/meditations-part-2.html?showComment=1493683628680#c1770389007659715202
Comment 2 - https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/04/first-installment-coaching-philosophy.html?showComment=1493685467280#c811164480618469207
Oliver Sacks “Musicophilia” - https://books.google.com/books?id=lx-_XRDzOKUC&pg=PT13&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q=Amnesia%20&f=false
Oliver sacks video - https://youtu.be/MdYplKQ4JBc
Toby Keith “Courtesy of The Red, White, and Blue” - https://youtu.be/ruNrdmjcNTc


1 comment:

  1. Music has definitely played a huge part in my life too. It get's me through the hard times in life like studying for finals, but it's also there for when you're content with life and makes those good moments even better. Great blog post!

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