"Music is the universal language, and love is the key
To peace hope and understanding, and living in harmony..."
-- Mac Davis
When Mac Davis penned the above lyrics for his 1970s classic pop song, "I Believe In Music," he was expressing in song what just about every musician of the time was feeling when they sang or played an instrument. It certainly was true for me, and I suspect for anyone who has ever been a musician, and shall be as long as music moves through the hearts and souls of human beings. The spoken and unspoken sentiment most every musician and music lover will attest to is that music holds the power to unify human beings.
The spiritual significance of music lies in the fact that it literally brings people together at a level of vibration that transcends boundaries, culture, language, religion, gender, age, color and politics, a place where we can all experience our sameness. When we can move beyond all of the aforementioned "labels," our differences tend to dissolve into the "oneness" from which we came. How can the energy of music be this powerful? Music resonates with the heart, not just the head.
While there is indeed a mathematical element to music that requires the integration of the left brain with the right brain, when music flows it penetrates and permeates the heart and soul of every human being it touches. For most of us, music is not an intellectual process, it is an emotional experience that is uniquely personal and yet, at the same time, interpersonal -- it's what connects us with others. While we may need an interpreter to tell us what the lyrics of a song mean, no one needs an interpreter to tell them what the energy of music is saying -- the heart knows. In the words of my singer-songwriter friend Harold Payne, "Music speaks louder than words, it's the only thing that the whole world listens to."
From the day when humankind first discovered music by beating a stick on a hollow log, to this moment in time, the "music" that flows through us is really the outer manifestation of an inner urge to express life. The word express means to press out. When music erupts from within us it is the desire of the soul seeking to push out and "be." When music becomes a shared experience with others, it is simply the soul seeking to push out and spill over into the souls of others in a creative process where their energies blend in amazing ways.
As musicians, when we commingle our desire to express through our "music," and we experience it together, we create something that no one of us could create alone. When this happens, it is literally divine harmony as the soul rejoices in its oneness with something far greater than the individual "I." Some of my most intense and blissful peak moment experiences have happened while playing music with others.
Music calls us home. It reminds us that beyond all the apparent differences we seem to have, we all come from the same place -- our unity in spirit. That is the power and significance of music. Whether you create music or just enjoy listening to it, music brings us together to celebrate, co-create and express the joy we find in our oneness, while at the same time honoring how it is expressed through us as individuals in such unique and creative ways. So, the next time you turn on your TV, radio or iPod, or go to a movie or a concert, pay attention to the music and imagine what your world might be like without it. Then, thank a musician for being the instrument through which it all flows.
Could music really heal the world of its many problems? What I know is this: When we are conscious enough to consider it, music is simply that which invites us to "remember to remember" we are never separate or alone, and that we have far more in common with our earth family than we have differences. And when we remember that connection, we all have a tendency to treat one another with more loving kindness, generosity, compassion and respect. If music can open the door to humankind's heart to a point where we really do see ourselves in one another, anything is possible. I agree with Harold Payne -- music really does speak louder than words, and it's a language we can all speak. So turn up your CD player and sing along! Let the world know you believe in music -- it might just catch on, and in the process bring the people on this planet closer together.