Baker 1

Jeremy Baker

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1103

April 5, 2011

Overall I felt like I did an okay job on this paper. I would have liked for it to flow together a little

more smoothly, but I wasn’t sure how to go about accomplishing that. Even though it wasn’t as

clear as I had hoped, I do believe that I got my point across in the final body paragraph.

Meaningful Music

Whenever you go out to watch a movie, you will always notice that there is music

playing in the background to help set the mood. Also, some people have an idea that life would

be more enjoyable if there were background music. As you can tell from watching movies, scary

ones in particular, music can be used to draw emotional reactions from people. One method

used to enhance emotional reactions is the addition of lyrics. I believe songwriters use lyrics to

intentionally provoke certain emotions, such as inspiration or sadness. In this essay I want to

prove this fact through specific songs within various genres.

The idea that music can cause an emotional reaction is a very common one. In fact

“[m]any music psychologists would agree that eliciting emotions is one of the most important

reasons we listen to music at all” (Schafer, Sedlmeier 223). I don’t know why you listen to

music, but the reason that I do is because it puts me in a good mood, or I’ll listen to songs that

fit the mood that I’m in at any given time. The reason that most people listen to music is
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because of how it makes them feel. These feelings can be triggered by the music itself, but a lot

of the times there are more factors involved in the evolution of emotion.

Usually the music we listen to on the radio is very different than the music we listen to

in movie backgrounds, primarily due to lyrics. The reason we like to listen to music with lyrics is

because we as human beings relate easily to words. Schafer and Sedlmeier claim that “[people]

use music for self socialization —that is, they see their problems or important issues (such as

rejected love) mirrored and possibly solved in music” (224). This shows the sense of connection

we feel toward lyrical music. We can easily relate because songwriters write about their own

issues, and many of the problems that these people write about are general problems that

everyone has. Luther Mallory, a lyricist for his band Crush Luther, asserts that “a good

songwriter understands the importance of good lyrics” meaning “well thought-out lyrics that

have a purpose, feel cohesive, and maintain a consistency” (39). This means that good

songwriters put a piece of themselves into their writing, showing an emotional connection with

what they are conveying and to the audience listening. I believe that because the writers put so

much personal experience into their writing, the audience is able to develop a stronger

connection with the music.

In most great songs, the ones that give you chills, you can feel the emotions in the lyrics

captured by the music that is being played alongside them. Diane Warren, a songwriter, says

that “you can't intellectualize a song- it’s a chill thing, a feeling, the thing that makes you cry”

(Webb 6). I believe she’s saying that the best songs are the ones that trigger the most

emotional response. An example of a very well-known song that triggers an emotional response
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(in me at least) is Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=rfUYuIVbFg0). When listening to this song you can almost feel a sense of hope that comes

when the band is singing the chorus. Of course, this isn’t the only genre of music that strongly

portrays emotion. Recently, the popularity of “screamo” music has been on the rise. I believe

this is largely due to the idea that it exudes strong emotions. They can have constant heavy

angry sounds like those in “They Faced Each Other” by The Chariot

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWTnE9XW7S8), or they can slowly build up to a cry out in

desperation as exemplified in the song “Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape” by

Underoath (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZOwB_gaJ1A). No matter the emotion

expressed or the means used to express it, I believe that the feelings are derived from how the

writer felt while writing it. This belief comes from the idea that music is used as a therapeutic

outlet to convey emotion.

There have been many studies on the therapeutic qualities of music, and in this research

it has been found that “songwriting may be a suitable approach for [people] to express and

deepen their thoughts and feelings.” Another one of the most common reasons that people

tend to write songs, other than to entertain, are to “externalize emotions, tell their story,

develop a sense of self, and gain insight or clarify thoughts and feelings” (Baker, Krout 66). This

is basically saying that music is a method of release for people; it’s a way for them to express

themselves. I believe that this may be a preferred method of expression as compared to

conventional writing or journaling for some people. I say this because there are many people I

know personally that don’t particularly like to write at all; however, they enjoy writing songs.

An example of this idea can be found in the song “Forever My Father” by Go Radio
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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S185G3aLsNk). This song was written and recorded by

Jason Lancaster, the lead singer of the band, along with his brother and sister right after the

memorial service for their father (Go Radio). When listening to the song you can hear the pain

in their voices. I believe that Lancaster wrote this song as a way of coping with his father’s

death; it was his way of showing how much his father meant to him. In my opinion, he wrote a

song because that was the most meaningful way he could express his feelings in that situation.

In summary, my research has shown that music is used to trigger emotional responses.

It’s my belief that these emotional responses occur because songwriters write about prevalent

issues in their lives and listeners relate them to their own. Writers choose subject matter from

their personal lives because they are using their music as a therapeutic way to express their

feelings. The conclusion that I made from this research is that songwriters use lyrics and music

in general to express themselves because it comes most naturally to them. Music has many

functions and will always be a therapeutic and expressive way to feel emotions.
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Works Cited

Baker, Felicity, Krout, Robert. “Collaborative peer lyric writing during music therapy training: a

tool for facilitating students' reflections about clinical practicum experiences.” Nordic

Journal of Music Therapy 20.1 (2011): 62-89. Web. 28 March 2011.

Go Radio. Lucky Street. Fearless, 2011. CD.

Mallory, Luther. “Those Four Elements of Songwriting.” Canadian Musician 31.6 (2009): 38-41.

Web. 27 March 2011.

Schafer, Thomas, Sedlmeier, Peter. “What Makes Us Like Music? Determinants of Music

preference.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 4.4 (2010): pp 223-224.

Web. March 28 2011

Webb, Adam. “Writing a Place in the History Books.” Music Week 4 April 2005: pg 6-9. Web. 27

March 2011.