Music, a Miracle Worker
We all have heard that music calms the Savage beast. Does that work for you? Have you really tried it. Have you been in a rage and played some music, and did it work? If it does work, what did you try? Have you had a bad case of blues, sadness, low spirits, anxiety, have you tried music and if you did, what worked for you? What do you play when you are bored or have a boring project to do? What do you play when the house is too quiet or you just feel lonely? I had a dentist who gave me a device and earphones, the louder the drill sounded, the louder I played the music. It worked. I am going to say that music works better than medication for most of us, and with very pleasant side effects. Music can work miracles if you only try it and take it in large doses on a daily basis. Feel free to experiment and treat anything that ails you.
I recently went to the gym for my workout and my batteries in my devices were drained and I neglected to recharge them. Every workout that I managed to do has been NO FUN. Music is more available than it has ever been, but we do have to make some effort. If you are paying for meds and other stimulants like coffee, tea and other more exotic substances or prescription meds you can cut back or do without and buy some music or a device instead. Most seniors are too reliant on medications. I know that doctors will prescribe meds that DO NOT WORK and are harmful. If you don’t limit your reliance on medication, no one will, at least that is true in my country and in my experience. If you are not trying natural cures, then you are missing the boat. Exercise and work also works miracles and music will help you get through that.
About 30 years ago, I invested in an expensive radio. It is still playing and it also plays CDs. I bought an IPOD about 10 years ago and that still works. Recently I bought a tiny radio for about twenty dollars and that works quite well. I use ear phones at the gym, but we could use them any place and any time when we don’t want to disturb others. I don’t like modern contraptions and devices but the money and effort is worth it to have the Miracle of Music any time or place that we want.
Play a radio, download and upload, wire your whole house if you want. Buy a computer device and ask for whatever music you like? Music is an option and it will work miracles if you just tune in and try it. All music that I like works for me. That’s all that I need so I am thinking that is all you need. Some music gets me moving and some stirs my soul and some makes me do a happy dance, and some takes all kinds of pain away. I call that a MIRACLE, Don’t YOU?
Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Senior Chatters
Hello Rose………I read recently there are lots of things we stop doing that indicates middle age, to no longer play music is one of them………I am guilty of this……TV seems to take precedence, yet I love to hear bands play when I go out in the evening…….I recently went to see Bohemian Rhapsody at the cinema, the story of Freddie Mercury the singer in Queen, it was brilliant, and of course the music was very much a big part of the film…….I really must get my CD player in use again………..different songs for different moods……….and the memories they bring….
Starlette, yours is exactly the kind of reaction I hope to elicit. People, like you, who have forgotten to bother to tale the time to enjoy music. They just got busy and forgot and I just wanted to remind them.
Oh yes Roseinbloom…..Now I am not someone who constantly has music on playing all day long as many do. I have my radio tuned to words and discussion most of the day. I use music as a mood enhancer or changer. On the whole I’m more of a classical music person. I like most although I have to be the right mood for Wagner. Nigel Kennedy’s violin can transport me, the energy of his Bach and Vivaldi. When homesick for England, I listen to Elgar or Britten or kennedy’s Lark Ascending. When happy, Schubert’s The Trout, quintet, it is full of hope, energy, gay optimism, it could only have been written by a young person, he was 22 I think. Then there is my ‘moving’ grooving music that I rotate through my exercises. The old American song book, early Jazz, early gritty Rock and ,Eddie Mercury, Beatles. African Drums, Latin and Ballet. When totally stressed out or I have a migraine. I lie in a darkened room, and sink into, try to totally focus in the sound of Gregorian Chant or early English church music. Block every thought but the sound enveloping me….that is hard to do. Soften every muscle and become one with the sound. Eyes closed but kind of draw sight into a point deep inside the brain. You have to work at this but it does get easier if you practise. Finally there are the musicals and the 1930 Fred and Ginger music. I sing along with all this as I iron, clean silver, jobs like that….turns a chore into fun.
rockflower, I thought of another comment. Maybe, we both need to play more music and listen to less discussion. Though, I do love my public radio news and discussions.
Your comment here gave me lots of thought. In saying it is “hard to do” to block out every thought, I was surprised because I find music one, almost certain thing, that can (I’ll say) bring me into balance. If what has been disturbing me is not right in front of me, music changes me to the mood of the music. Chopin “Raindrop” is one that calms me. I’m also a jazz and classical music fan especially Chopin, debussy, Satie but Bach and Beethoven have such wide mood sounds that calm is always available. When I say calm I should explain that it moves me in that direction at a minimum. Grief can not be “wiped out” completely but music has helped in that regard significantly.
By the way this is a great subject for a blog.
Rockflower, you seem to be doing what more of us need to do more of and that is using music as a constant companion to be there with you in all kinds of ways. I am glad that you get so much from music and the rest of us know what is possible.
I have a CD player in my car and on long lonely journeys I am always accompanied by music. Be it my favourites (Runrig), Status Quo, Iron Maiden, Bonnie Tyler. All depends on my mood at the time.
When stuck in traffic crawling at 3 MPH or perhaps stopped completely, my frustrations are often calmed by the historical musings of Iron Maiden (yes I know that sounds strange, but listen to the lyrics. A lot of their stuff is historical).
Get on an open road, say a motorway, and make sure it’s something like Jim Reeves. If you play Status Quo the fast tempos do encourage a heavy right foot. And for god sake avoid Motorhead’s Ace of Spades or you’ll blow your engine.
In short, Yes! Music can easily change your mood and drag you out of depression. I have no idea why, and no interest in listening to the various head doctors who try to explain it. Just put the earphones on, shut out the world and enjoy.
Something you said here Waylander hits me so true. Talking about music often gets in the way of the mood of music. So many times I have watched a documentary on a music personality, composer of group and got downright pissed off at all the talk over the music that was playing. Describing music IMO is pointless as it can not convey anything compared to music itself.
Waylander, I always enjoy your comments and I agree we don’t need to prove that music works. I has long been proven and most people know that it does yet I and others just forget in their worst times to be proactive and tune in to some music and whatever works for them is what matters. An interesting thing about music that may explain why we all respond to it is that the developing child listens to their mother’s heart and the nursing baby again hears the mother’s heart so we have rhythm from our very beginning.
Now THERE’s a thought! That had never occurred to me, but, of course, you are correct.
When ieed enough energy to start cleaning I have to play Celine Dion’s “I drove all night” and it does that energy come through. I have my favorites on ITunes and just blast them from my computer speakers. The BeeGees are at the top of my list, Queen of course and Bob Seeger. I also have many tunes for relaxation…..Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Neil Diamond and all the songs from ” The Phantom of the Opera” which I live so much I paid high prices to see it in the theatre. My dad and mom were both music lovers, my dad was a violinist and taught me to like ‘long-haired music’, I’m very grateful to them for this gift and all 3 of my children adapted this gift as well. Thanks for this blog, Rose, I’ve enjoyed it and wish the bloggers would continue writing on here and share with us.
Good to hear about your music and I am glad you use it to review up your energy for chores and for relaxation. Music does do wonders, and the only requirement is that it works for you. Music also ties us together and to our experience as you say you have carried it down from your father and who know how long your family has been handling it down. The Irish have their jig and the Polish have their Polka, and the Scots have their bagpipes and so on. I do hope others find our blogs. Rob was in chat the other morning and he went and found this lost blog and posted it. Isn’t that amazing.
Glad he found it, Rose. Hope oeople keep posting on it. I don’t understand why blog’s die so quickly. And it’s always the same people writing them and the same ones commenting. Wish they could be announced better. Just a thought.
Rose, you are always thinking. It would be interesting how we could announce and get people involved. The games are posted in the information section on home page. Blogs don’t get that kind of attention. I think a lot more people read them than we know because they make no comment.
I’m my past I’ve loved music and was never far from it. As the years progressed so did my taste taking in classical, rock, some country , spiritual and other, unfortunately I no longer listen to music for itself. I find I’m often irritated by it. I’m wondering if it’s because we’re surrounded by so much noise, as in shopping centres blasting out often soulless dross that many people , such as myself are rejecting what we once loved as an invasion to our already full minds ??
bea, that is sad and I have not heard of that. I don’t spend much time in shopping centers and the music seems okay. Where do you live. Maybe others will answer your questions. Maybe playing your own music would retrain your brain. It is worth A try.
I don’t listen to music on the radio anymore. I can make my own choices with the music I’ve put on ITunes or can go to YouTube but I hate all the ads you have to hear first. Have some great speakers connected to my Mac next to the kitchen. I don’t go to shopping malls anymore where music blasts and I hate crowds. There is some music piped in at my Jewel food store but it doesn’t seem too loud nor annoying. I guess it depends on where you live and where you shop.?
I always have the tv on or music in the house, I’m alone much of the time and it drowns out all the sounds of the machinery going on somewhere outside, very much of that. There is a park directly across the street from my house. If the weather permits, it’s full of children playing, cute, but it seems that these days they have a need to scream at the top of their lungs. Looks like a nice quiet block as it used to be bit ‘it ain’t no more’. The Metro train is 4 houses down from me but the sound of the train actually lulls me into a state of relaxation…except when it drowns out the sound of a program we’re watching.
With all this I just said I’m glad I have my little house in the neighborhood in which I always lived and have two arms and two legs!
Rose, I use the ublock origin extension in my Chrome browser. No more ads on Youtube and other places. Especially no more ads for funeral homes on this site.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en
Thank you. I will try it. I am not liking my computer time any more due to the constant swatting of ads like a swarm of flies.
Thanks, David, I will try that.
Hi Everyone, hope your all having a good day. Weather here NE coast of UK is cold, windy and persistent rain and sky is grey… Rose 1943 : Hello… I too have noticed that lots of children seem to yell at each other during speech, and younger ones do seem to scream to such a high pitch a great deal without parents correcting this. Wonder if this is because of all the external noises they are competing with… I grew up in a small family were noise was limited my dad liked to sing but not loudly and Sunday mornings my mum did have the radio on whilst she prepared Sunday lunch, but again not so the neighbors could hear it. Same with tv in those days programmes didn’t start until 5/6 pm each day and I don’t recall our tv having much of a speaker, I know it couldn’t be heard upstairs in the bedrooms. I don’t seem to tire of bird song or the sound of the sea when the waves are crashing over each other, which I can hear in my back garden at night. I quite like standing listening to this sound. Finding it soothing and exciting.
bea, your weather sounds so dreary and I know you get a lot of it and I hope there is music that will soother that but with the ocean near buy you have a real treat. Hot soup and tea works for a dreary day and some kind of music may work also.
I am in Florida right now, the sunshine state.
Rose,
Thank you for your blog on the power of music. I have enjoyed reading the responses of our fellow SCers!
I once watched an episode of a TV show called Ally McBeal that featured the importance of having a “Theme Song”. This theme song is selected by its ability to capture your current challenges and empowers you to overcome. Through the years, I have embraced different theme songs and often listen to the song as a bit of self-empowerment when needing a little boost. One song that has worked for me over the years is Natasha Bedingfield’s, “Unwritten”. It always makes me feel strong!
I love the idea of a theme song. I looked up the words to your song and I understand why it resonates with you. We all have blank pages even though some people have stopped writing long ago. I made a resolution to make this year special and I exceeded by wildest expectations. I may be happy to coast next year. I just bought a new home in my favorite city and next year, I want to make it the home of my dreams. That will be a challenge. I will need a new Theme song and to play all my old ones. I will get busy putting together a play list.
. I loved “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy. I also loved, “The Impossible Dream” from the “Man from LaMancha”. They revved up my enthusiasm. I like your song and we all have pages to write.
the correct quote is that “Music soothes the savage breast. ” Not beast. Other than that, the rest is spot on.
The quote has been misquoted for years and your version is also not quite correct.
““Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast.” The actual quote, from the same play from which the line in the third entry above is taken, is “Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast.” The next line, elaborating on the theme, is “To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.”Feb 8, 2012”
Music always has and always will play a major role in my life. Indeed, the right tune can make my spirits soar from the depths. I have often wondered how anyone can be unhappy when we have the ability to listen to music. AND I have a personally amazing experience to share… After complications from surgery resulted in neurological episodes, lasting issues, seizures, strokes and years of recovery… I discovered the true power of music. One of the “gifts” of this neurological rewiring was severe, intrusive tinnitis. It just appeared from no where. The fight or flight response was constantly with me. I managed to get hold of headsets and a good supply of music. For 3 days I listened non stop to the music. When I took off the headsets, the volume and pitch of the teakettle in my ears was noticeably lowered to a tolerable level. I was finally able to think again! That was not the only benefit but the easiest to explain. Any time I hear someone has a loved one in a coma or severely ill my first question is… do they have access to music??? Music led me back from the black hole of oblivion where I not only didn’t know my name, I had no sense of self. Music can actually encourage the brain to heal, rewire, come back from places without maps. If you ever have a friend or loved one who’s function is severely compromised.. take them headset and a radio… make sure they have the chance… even when you think they are gone! And tell them Frankie sent you!
Frankie, your comment is amazing and powerful. Music has powers, I had not imagined. We all have emotions that music will make better. I am glad you are better and still love music.
Reading all the comments about music and its importance in life- for me it occupies most of my day and Night! I play antiquated old electronic Keyboard for at least one hour every morning. In the afternoon I have a rest – usually to the music of Mantovani or the great Massed bands of long ago(I often drift off to sleep during this session. At night I retire to the dulcet tones of a Talking Book (at the moment I am reading of an adventure in the Solomon Islands – a place I used to visit when much younger). At about 10pm I retire and select an excellent local radio station which concentrates entirely on the music of the 50’s 60’s and 70’s definitely my time! and invariably the dulcet sounds put me to sleep – and thus ends my musical day – No time for boredom for quite simply Music Fills My Life! – Nice to be chatting again!
Kind regards Drummer
Drummer, I am glad you are back and I find your day a perfect example of the way music can enriches a life. Thank you for your comment.
Hello Roseinbloom and clearly as you saw from my missive I too regard music as a true essential in
my life albeit in many different forms – the world would be a sad place were it not for music!
You do. and so true about a sad place without music.