There are two types of people in this world – those who love listening to music, and those who are lying. Every society and culture, regardless of location or era, have leaned on music to convey a message, tell a story, or influence a mood. In fact, it is often believed that music predated language – I believe it.

Watch a baby when there’s music playing

Several years ago, when my oldest child was about six months old, I remember playing music and then watching in delight as they danced, demonstrating a much better connection between rhythm and dance than I have ever been known for. We tend to listen to a wide array of music in our house, including anything from Paul Simon to Disturbed, or Kip Moore to Crosby, Stills, Nash….and sometimes Young…but it didn’t matter what we played, our son was in step, engaged, and smiling with every beat. This happened without any coaching or guidance, as if moving to music was an innate behaviour. If you have a moment, watch a baby when there’s music playing. They will likely be moving to the beat without any regard for what people around them think, and they will be loving every minute of it. We could learn a thing or two from them.

Think about how many times you hear music in a day, and I don’t just mean on the radio, in your headphones, or in the elevator. Truly take a moment to think of all the times a rhythm helped you pass the time. Did you tap your fingers on a table while you waited for something? That’s a rhythm. Did you whistle a tune while you started your day? That’s a song. Did you sing in the shower? We’ll leave it up to you to decide what to call that, but it was a performance. The important thing is, music surrounds us, and it influences how we feel.

Woodstock ’99 was a prime example of music being used to influence a mood

Have you ever noticed at a sporting event how certain songs are played when the home team is down? The goal is to excite the fans and empower the players to go the extra mile. Think of the last concert you attended, and the order your favourite band played their songs in. While their playlists are typically set ahead of time, they still have the ability to bring out a hit if they feel the crowd is not engaged, or they may decide to save their biggest hits for the encore, leaving the crowd humming those tunes the entire way home. Woodstock ’99 was a prime example of music being used to influence a mood, and if you know anything about the events during that weekend, you will know what I’m talking about. I don’t blame the bands either. The organizers of Woodstock ’99 should have known, very well, when they assembled a lineup that contained some of the hardest rockers in mainstream music that they were asking for the response they got from the crowd. These bands were able to influence the mood of hundreds of thousands of people in an instant, and while some of the events of that weekend were sad to watch, it was nonetheless impressive to watch how music steered the crowd as if they were puppets on a string.

We’d be hard pressed to find a minute in any given day where we don’t hear music

So how does music bring positivity to our daily lives? Simple – it doesn’t matter where you are, what you are doing, or how old you are, music makes what you are doing better. Radios were added to cars to make long drives more enjoyable, musical scores were added to film to help viewers feel the mood, and headphones were designed to allow us to bring music wherever we go. The reality is, we’d be hard pressed to find a minute in any given day where we don’t hear music. Even if you’re sitting alone in a silent room, I challenge you to convince yourself that you don’t have a song in your head. Maybe you didn’t a few seconds ago, but after thinking about it….I bet you do now.

Take a minute to enjoy the music, put some on in the background, and certainly watch a baby dance. It’s all around us, and makes life better. It may have been thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years ago, but whoever tapped their fingers first – thank you!

Treat yourself to some new music, whether on vinyl, CD, or digital download here!