Music: is it a form of influence?
- Jack Badby
- Feb 1, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 4, 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________
What is music?
Music in many ways is part of culture, a intermediate way of reciting history and in some cases a product of poetry, it's said music first derives from vocal melodies no doubt due to some form of experimentation with pronunciation of speech then eventually evolved into becoming the first song.
Hurrian Hymn No 6.
“Hurrian Hymn No. 6” is considered the world’s earliest melody, but the oldest musical composition to have survived in its entirety is a first century A.D. Greek tune known as the “Seikilos Epitaph.”
There are various examples of old original music that deliver a message that presents a idea for example Hurrian Hymn a first century original song and the oldest surviving song to date, Hurrian hymn was discovered in Syria In the early 1950's on a ancient marble column marking a woman's grave and on a ancient clay tablet after decrypting the lyrics of the song roughly translating to “While you live, shine / Have no grief at all / Life exists only for a short while / And time demands its toll.” These lyrics convey a consistent message, being important life lessons to the listener pushing the Idea that life is what you make it, Don't allow yourself to grieve the mistakes of the past, Life doesn't last forever and Time comes with a price, These Lyrics provide a opinion and teach us a little about the composer on these lyrics whoever they may be.
It's possible the creator made the song after a long and eventful life possibly trying to use their music to convey a meaningful message for the listeners for them to learn from the song similar to many artists over the years, Is It possible this mysterious composer set this trend or did music in their time already provide messages, Ideas and ideologies anyway and was conveying messages always the goal with music? let's find out!
__________________________________________________________________________________
What does music achieve?
Music is utilised in many forms of media as a way of presenting independent opinions or emotions towards other individuals weather it being in books, musicals or even films the use of music is a way of portraying the current mood and feeling in particular events of storytelling, this is the reason why musicians are hired to produce music for movies and musicals.
Does music relate to the consumers Personality, or Beliefs?
In theory music is a way of presenting ideas, emotions or stories to a the listeners of which most of the time the message depends on genre of song providing a stereotypical message expected for each genre some people may fall under the belief of the stereotypical messages of the music genre so I'll ask a Individual what their favourite genre and favorite song from that genre is and see If they agree with the message of the song and If It compares to the stereotype people commonly see in these genres.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Do genres complement personality?
Primary data collected Secondary data collected
This is a pie chart displaying what 75 people have said is their prefered genre to listen to, the top selected genre being Drill and the least selected genre being Jazz, comparing it to data already gathered the highest selected genre is Rock and the lowest selected genre being childrens music. Most people surveyed said the reason why they picked their prefered genre explained the reasoning as to why they picked said genre.
Ben said "I used to be a big fan of Rock music because my Dad likes AC/DC but I think I prefer Drill nowadays"- This liking for drill isn't obvious by simply looking at Ben judging by the way he talks and dresses you wouldn't believe he was a fan of drill if anything he would seem to be more of a fan of his old favorite genre Rock.
Aaron said "When at the Gym I love to blast to drum and bass through my airpods to get me in the mood to exercise" - Aaron is a partier and It's not surprising that he picked D&B cause he has always had a high level of energy.
Lucy said "Pop and Drill are the only genres but picked Drill" she also said "what's Hip-Hop?" - This made me want to cry but also explained why Lucy has the personality that she does it seems picked Drill because she likes to fit in and wants to fit in and be popular when not really knowing much about the genre she selected.
After gathering enough data I decided to ask a person who is very close to me so I can compare their personality to a song they like and see if the reason why they like the song compares to their personality.
Juice WRLD - My Life In A Nutshell.
Genre - Hip Hop - Anti Discrimination, Anti-establishment, Egotistical lyrical content, Promotes anti adversity.
Album - Fighting Demons
Release - 2021
What does the listener Like about this song and what impact does it have on them?
Vee says that the music is appealing to them because the music brings up topics that interest Vee as a consumer of Juice WRLD's music this remains consistent with Vee's personality being a compassionate and realistic person Vee seems to take this song as a lesson learning from the songs lyrical content and though artists may not intend to push a lesson in their song sometimes it becomes the case that it does become one.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Does music Impact the world possitivly?
Many people have a song that 'changed their life' and as discovered changed their view on the world and people around them but did it inspire them to change the world around them and was this the intention of the composer of theses songs we'll look at a song that changed the world and look at it's positive and negative effects and if it reflected well on the writers reputation.
Imagine: Peace or Communism?
John Lennon - Imagine.
Genre- Alternative/Indie - Anti Discrimination, Anti-establishment, Promotes Unity.
Album - Imagine
Release - 1971
"Imagine all the people living for today" A inspirational message and one that is admirable, respectful and hopeful, Personally I agree with the message the idea of unity is a ideal but is it realistic and Is it possible for all of us to be united under one belief?
Some would say 'what's the point in life if everyone thinks the same and believes in the same things' yes the world will be at peace with everyone under one belief and mindset but is that true freedom?
The idea of these questions makes you think and makes you pick a side similar to how I the idea of communism and democracy are a conflicting fight since that's what controversy surrounded John lennon after the release of this song the argument that the song mirrored communist propaganda was a big argument in the time being released during the cold war and the vietnam war going on at the time the points raised by John in the song were claimed to be arguments on the side of disorder by the government and the message wasn't supported by them but it was by the fans on John and also reached out to new audiences.
Protests, riots and conflict were happening around the time and Imagine was a bias song focused on one side of the opposing sides of the time the side of the people and the side of the government and though Imagine wasn't the cause of the events of the time It did help create and influence people of agreeing with the side of the people So in conclusion Is Music a form of Influence?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Is music a form of Influance?
Music Is a form of influence depending on its Popularity, Relatable message and how catchy the song is, so in conclusion the idea of a influential song isn't a fictional concept though it's unlikely that small songs with inconsistent messages will convey any kind of impact into the real world in any Impactful way so this means if you want to make a song to change the world you will have you will have to make sure your song reaches the people of the world first.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Key:
Green Text - Primary Research.
Red Text - Secondary Research.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Secondary Research Links:
Secondary Research Video/Documentary Links:
Harvard Reference list:
__________________________________________________________________________________ Andrews, E. (2018). What is the oldest known piece of music? [online] HISTORY.
Available at: https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-music#:~:text=nine%2Dstringed%20lyre.- [Accessed 1 Mar. 2022].
__________________________________________________________________________________ Barbuto, I. (2016). Message of Lennon’s “Imagine” still resonates today. [online] Poughkeepsie Journal.
Available at: https://eu.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/life/2016/12/21/peace-john-lennon-imagine-teens-unity-vietnam-war/95710756/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2022].
__________________________________________________________________________________ Carter, J. (2021). The Movements Of John Lennon And The Vietnam War - 1733 Words | Cram. [online] www.cram.com.
Available at: https://www.cram.com/essay/The-Movements-Of-John-Lennon-And-The/P3732TK5J [Accessed 4 Mar. 2022].
__________________________________________________________________________________ Levy, M. (2020). “Hurrian Hymn no. 6” (c.1400BCE) - Ancient Mesopotamian Musical Fragment by Michael Levy. [online] ancientlyre.com.
Available at: https://ancientlyre.com/track/1982130/hurrian-hymn-no-6-c-1400bce-ancient-mesopotamian-musical-fragment#:~:text=%22Hurrian%20Hymn%20no. [Accessed 4 Mar. 2022].
__________________________________________________________________________________ Resnikoff, P. (2016). What are the Most Popular Music Genres In America? [online] Digital Music News.
Available at: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/04/07/most-popular-music-genres-america/.
Comments