Impact of Music on the world

Music is any sound which is melodious for our ears, and triggers some sort of emotion. It need not be Mozart’ creation it could be anything varying from a birds chirp to a car’s horn, the sound of the waves, the cry of a child, the traffic police whistle. It can be anything which you connect with and which impacts you in one way or the other.

Music has been an important tool for transformation of the world. It has the great power of making a change. “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything”- Plato.

Music is a universal language that we all understand. By appealing to our emotions, it has the ability to break down complex issues into things we can relate to like love, friendship, fear, or loss. In this way music expands our horizons and opens our mind to new ideas. It also caters to social problems and transmits it in a simple way to the society.

We can look at the African-American civil rights movement during the 1960’s which was affected by Bob Dylan’s songs specially “Times They Are A-Changing” which spoke about oppression and tried to sensitize people about the crime they were doing. The 2010 famous song ‘wavin flag’ was originally meant for the struggle of refugees displaced by war and how people are waiting for the dream of freedom.

The recent example of Sheetal Sathe a folk singer, a poet and Dalit right Activist from Pune, Maharashtra who rose to prominence as one of the lead singers of the troupe Kabir Kala Manch in the mid 2000’s was accused of promoting Maosits and Naxalite ideology because of which she and the others members had to go in hiding. Songs were her medium for speech and her medium of expression. Her aim was to enlighten people about different themes and realities of life like how casteism blocks the education system. She also dedicated a song for Rohith Vemula, the dalit scholar from Hyderabad University who committed suicide. The song “Rohith gaya, Dalit gaya, mar gayi hai lokshahi” comments on the death of democracy.

The show hosted by Aamir Khan ‘Satyamev Jayate’ could also not ignore this simple tool and used it for putting across the social message in a very powerful yet subtle manner. Songs like ‘O ri Chiraiya’ which spoke about female foeticide and ‘Mujhe kya bechega Ruppaiya’ left such a great impact on people’s mind which helped trigger a change in the society. We can relate so much on only hearing a familiar tune for example, the tune of the national anthem fills us with a sense of patriotism and we stand with our heads held high with a feeling of pride especially among the diasporic audience.

We find ourselves humming tunes of songs or jingles because music engraves the idea or the product so much in the mind when we least expect it. “Washing powder Nirma”, “Vicco turmeric ,nahi Cosmetic”, remember these? Surely you must have started singing the song by now, this is what the power of music is and brands use it to their advantage of making their product as the top of mind recall. They also mention the benefits of the products in the jingle itself so that the consumer can remember all of it and would choose that product above any other in the market.

Music is also a way of carrying forward traditional stories and even culture. Through folk music and tales the people get to know of the rich past and children learn more about their community in an entertaining way. It is like a record which can never be taken away from them.

Music not only circulates ideas of the local communities but it transcends the boundaries. The thoughts and ideas from all over the world are seen flowing from one place to the other. Music played an important role in the westernizing our country. This also talks about the negative impact of music. Songs of Honey Singh are a great example of this which has been really successful in objectifying the women. Many people blame modern day music which lists immoral and detrimental behavior in vivid detail to be the cause of substance abuse, violent behavior in teens.

It is up to us how we use this impactful tool and also how we allow ourselves to be impacted by it.

#Music