The Power of Music

What is it about music? Inspiration, power, motivation, tears, empathy, happiness, joy, anger, comfort, and a countless list of other emotions all come from the sweet sounds of instruments, voices, lyrics or a combination of all three. It has been said that, “Through music, man’s ability to express himself extends beyond the limits of the spoken language in both subtlety and power. Music can be used to both exalt and inspire or to carry messages of degradation and destruction” (Priesthood Bulletin, August 1973, page 3).

Part of me is having a lot of trouble writing this post, because it's difficult to express the power of music and my feelings of its influence. There are so many songs that have put my thoughts into words, and have been a refuge in times of need.

I don't think movies or television would be the same without music either. The movie Jaws would cease to be so scary without the "duuu... du. duuu... du. du du du du dududududu." (I hope you all know what I was referring to). Furthermore, romantic scenes in the rain would lack its passion without the sweet sound of strings playing in the background, and Indiana Jones would not be Indiana Jones without his theme song music...

Nevertheless, despite we may not have such a perfectly scripted movie score to our lives, I've often found that certain songs will impeccably describe our feelings of a moment, and the soundtrack of our lives will be continually changing, supporting, uplifting, and empathizing with every instant.

I have waaaaay too many favorite songs, but one of my go-to songs when I like to just sit and think is "Shine" by William Joseph. The simple, but powerful chords and melody of the piano uplift me with peace and conviction.

What are some of your favorite songs?