Dear Editor,
The recent passing of India’s cultural icon and world-renowned Lata Mangeshkar and the genuine outpouring of grief is a reminder of the importance of music to humankind. All four of the Guyana dailies carried several well-articulated letters and two articles on her profile and her lasting legacy in music. So, no need for me to repeat. Covering everything from patriotic songs, sad songs, to romantic numbers and even lullabies, Lata’s wide-ranging soprano voice was melodious and distinctive spanning a vocal range that extended more than three octaves. Some of her songs are used as prayers in temples, shrines and schools. Whatever she sang, Lata immersed herself in the music and sang with deep conviction and sincerity. Here are some thoughts on the importance of music.
Music – the universal language of mankind – touches our inner soul and influences how we perceive the world around us. It has engaged people since time immemorial and has the power over our feelings including issues, events, religious ceremonies, and geo-politics. The sound of music is one of our best tools for discovering the world in all its dimensions. Some sounds lead inward on meditative journeys. Other sounds carry us far afield in search of harmonic convergences. Our planet is filled with sonic wonders to discover, music to embrace, and soundscapes to remember. Our spiritual rituals are framed with music. A good example is The Mass, the main form of Roman Catholic and Anglican denominational worship which is replete with music from beginning to end. Indeed, without music at Mass, the ritual is considered empty and meaningless. The same goes for Hindu and other religious ceremonies where music brings deeper meaning while lifting the soul and strengthening communion with a Higher Being.
Music has a unifying effect. In critical times, people are affected by those key events and moments, and in turn that has a huge effect on society. It was music that helped bring international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) through the combined efforts of the late George Harrison of the Beatles fame and Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar at the “Concert for Bangladesh” held in New York in August 1971. The overwhelming success of the concert prompted Shankar to remark that in one day, the whole world knew the name Bangladesh. Melodies and words can win hearts across the world and do inestimable good in opening closed minds to ideas. The famous folk music trio, Peter, Paul and Mary sang Bob Dylan’s timeless classic and the best ever written anti-war song “Blowing in the Wind” on the steps of the Lincoln Memo-rial during the March on Washington in 1963, just hours before Martin Luther King Jr. stood before thousands and declared “I have a dream.” The song propelled the Civil Rights movement and gave new meaning to the anti-war movement around the globe. In the canon of timeless classics, another of Dylan’s hits “The Times They Are a Changin’” rests at the top – a clarion call to parents, politicians and the public to get on the right side of history during the civil rights movement, to choose courage and compassion over complacency, and involvement over inaction. The Beatles – and the music of the 60s as a whole – was transformative and encouraged people to think outside the norm and to challenge accepted wisdom, prejudices, something that has since been integral to the ways in which music changes society. They were also the first Western music group to use two Indian instruments – the sitar and tabla – in their music. And who can forget the timeless classics of Simon & Garfunkel’s (the greatest duo in contemporary music) such as Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sounds of Silence, and Homeward Bound that defined a whole generation and now used in US schools.
Our brains have been wired to help catalog the different patterns of music impacting our most intense emotions. This is the essential reason why music exerts such powerful emotional reactions such as tearfulness, sadness, laughter, bonding, love, intimacy, relationships, and memories. It also explains why there is different music for different moods including a range of activities such as exercising, meditating, praying, yoga exercising, relaxing, dancing, making love, etc. Can you think of doing yoga without music or even working out at the gym without music? Or having a social get together without music? Melodies and lyrics are such powerful things that they can reassure, soothe, inspire and educate us. Songs have always held a mirror to the world, reflecting the things going on around us, and, arguably, music changes society like no other artform. Our reaction to a favourite song can be so visceral that we are forever connected to it. Think about how triggering a flood of memories that lullabies, children songs, patriotic songs (“O Beautiful Guyana”, “My Guyana El Dorado”, etc.), and the various background music during radio and TV shows including death announcements can impact us all. Recently, Tony Bennett at age 95, did his last concert in August 2021 in New York and was joined on stage by Lady Gaga. Though suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he remembered the lyrics for the songs he sang unaided by anyone. His doctor later revealed that it was his music and sincerity in singing that sparked the brain to have him perform without a glitch. Whether it is some classical piece such as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, or Indian classical music or country music, Los Indios, Latin Ameri-can tunes, African rhythms, Andean flute music, they all exert a powerful influence on human beings. Music can boost memory, build task endurance, lighten your mood, reduce anxiety and depression, stave off fatigue, improve your response to pain, arouse your passion, and help you work out more effectively.
There is good research indicating that music has the potential to bring about significant benefits in many health conditions. Many problems of a person’s life are pacified by music because the mind and soul remain cheerful after listening to music. Listening to music gives us peace, satisfaction, calm, mental acuity, relieves stress, increases our attention, and at the same time keeps positive thoughts in us. What is even better is playing a musical instrument or composing your own song. In Hawaiian culture, the highest compliment you can pay someone is to write a song about them as Hawaiians believe that when you sing, it comes from the heart and you are sincere. The joy of producing your own music, rather than listening to those of others, brings out hidden talents and gets your creative juices flowing. At different times of the day when you are in different moods, listening to your favorite music regardless of its genre, can boost your health and well-being. Start with your early morning breakfast with some easy listening music in the background right to the time you are about to sleep with the light instrumental music, you will experience the power of music and how it can regulate your emotions. Major hospitals now have music as a therapy to cure certain illnesses where modern medicine has failed. Studies on people who underwent medical procedures showed that those patients who listened to music after surgery had lower levels of anxiety and a lesser need for medication. Music can unlock the trauma in the brain for those who have been exploited, help stroke victims regain speech, lower your blood pressure, and changes thing on a neurological level. So keep on singing, playing an instrument, or listening. It is good for you.
Sincerely,
Lal Balkaran
Scarborough, Ontario