Music has a kind of indescribable power over people. You can feel absolutely awful and think that nothing will help, but one song can completely change your mood. Don’t you ever wonder how? How can listening to sounds and words make you feel or think so much? Just one song.

Sometimes it’s the words. Lyrics are more than just letters put in order to create a song. It’s how people spell out their feelings. The Lumineers’, ¨It’s a long road to wisdom, it’s a short one to being ignore¨ says enough in just one line to make ¨Flowers in your Hair¨ a great song. The chorus in Gabrielle Aplin’s ¨Home¨ says ¨Home is where your heart is set in stone, is where you go when you’re alone, is where you go to rest your bones. And it’s not just where you lay your head, it’s not just where you make your bed...¨ The beautiful chords behind her soft voice singing these words make it even deeper. Music goes beyond just using strong lyrics, it puts instruments and voices behind them to strengthen the meaning even more.

Playing music is an even greater sensation. A piano or guitar or drums, they give you the power. The music takes control over you, you take control of the instrument, and you feel the beat going, flowing, or rushing through your body. You feel the actual buzz of the chords resonate on your fingertips. You feel the meaning behind the lyrics in between your teeth. You feel the sounds clashing and joining to make a beautiful sound in your skull and you get lost in what you’re doing. You are making the music that inspires you, you are creating the noise that made you feel so strongly, and you are translating one artist’s work into your own.

Think about your favorite song. Why is it you favorite? Maybe you haven’t really thought about why before, but what about it is so much greater than all others? It must be the way it makes you feel. Somehow, it finds a way to take a hold of your senses and it’s amazing. It’s amazing how one person’s voice can do so much. How just listening to somebody express their emotions turns yours into theirs.