The Power of Music

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest. – Henry David Thoreau

I stood in a rather small room with about thirty strangers. The group included men and women from a wide range of ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. I had no idea where any of them were from or what their names were. We just happened to be on the same tour of RCA Studio B. 

Suddenly, the Everly Brothers began to play over the speakers. The music quickly filled the small room. I recognized the song immediately from the oldies that used to play on our local TV advertisement channel when I was a child. I knew and loved every word. People started to feel the rhythm—a gentle sway, a head bob, a toe tap– everybody got in the groove. But something else happened, something I didn’t expect. Almost everyone started to sing.

Dream, dream, dream,

When I want you in my arms

When I want you and all your charms

Whenever I want you, all I have to do

Is dream, dream, dream, dream

Some of the people in the room knew each other, but most of us were there from different places. I certainly didn't know anybody, but I was tapping my toes and singing too! I even surprised myself. After the Everly Brothers clip, the tour guide played a few more snippets of hit songs recorded at Studio B, which kept people smiling, grooving, and singing aloud together like old friends for about ten minutes. That part of the tour really stuck with me— I may never forget it as long as I live.

I don't recall a time when I didn't love music. I have old home videos of my brother and me singing as toddlers and doing our best imitations while playing the small instruments we had. Later, around the age of 9 or 10, we began to sing and play real instruments. Some of the first writing I ever did was songwriting and poetry. What I realized at Studio B was that I seemed to have temporarily forgotten the power of music and song, and that was a shocker. 

How on earth could I have forgotten that? I guess it was another gentle reminder to “stop and smell the roses” in life, but I digress…

The fact is, music is a force. It can make you remember and help you forget. It can transport you to a different time period or a specific moment in your life and it can make you hopeful for the future. Often, a song can say something for which we can't find the right words. Music is connective. It brings unlikely groups of people together. Music may (sometimes unexpectedly) enable us to tap into emotions that are beneath the surface.

There is a video on YouTube of a world-renowned orchestra performing a popular piece of music from the 1800s. The camera pans around to the audience during the performance. As the music swells, expressions begin to change. Some close their eyes. Some cling to the hand of the loved one next to them. During the performance, audience members cried, and musicians played the piece with tears streaming down their faces. It is an amazing demonstration of the fire that hides between the bars and measures of a musical composition. This week’s blog banner is a collage of photos from that performance–so moving!

Let me end by saying, if you enjoy music history, I highly recommend a visit to the “Home of 1000 Hits.” RCA Studio B is on “Music Row” in Nashville, and for a long time, it served as the hub of the “Nashville Sound” that came to characterize country music in the 60s and 70s. It is one of a sadly shrinking number of historical places you can visit in Nashville. It is well worth seeing the place where Elvis, Patsy Cline, The Everly Brothers, Dolly Parton, and so many more worked their magic with music. 

I, for one, got much more than I bargained for on the tour–a reminder of the power of music.

The X on the floor marks the "sweet spot" where sound engineers at Studio B discovered the best recordings were made. Yep, I'm that person, I wanted my picture made there!

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