What is it about music that stirs and revives our souls?

If you read this post, your are required to click each link and listen to the music.

Dobie Gray – Drift Away (Original Official Video)
http://youtu.be/NIuyDWzctgY

Lyrics help express feelings. Many times they help us pull ideas and memories out from the deep recesses of our minds. Those memories of high school or childhood that come rushing back when you hear a certain song. It may happen in an elevator, or as the ice cream truck rolls past. (My wife and I told our boys the ice cream truck was the “music truck” when they were little.) You think to yourself “Wow. I wish I could go back to that moment.” Many of us feel our souls rising up to God through music. Alone and in a time of sorrow, but also during times of corporate worship. I love singing traditional hymns in the traditional way. Harmonies rise from different pews with the familiar tones of fellow church members of the last 40 years. I can distinctly hear my Dad when we sing many traditional songs in church. He has a unique tone. Sometimes it grinds on me, but mostly it brings me to a comfortable place of warmth and familiarity.

Music resonates deep in the human soul. It has a power to connect us with others and to open our hearts to new feelings. This experience is universal. How many of us have been in a different country and have been blessed to worship with a congregation in a very different language. When the music begins, even if you don’t have any idea of the words being spoken, the music joins you together.

I love these words shared with me by my friend Liz Clark as I was preparing to write this post.

“Music awakens something, changes the air inside my soul.”

This is so very true. No matter the music you prefer. Sacred or secular. Music does something to us. And it is wonderful. Many times we struggle to find words to express our true feelings, and then we turn to music. When you were young, did you share favorite songs with a young man or young woman you were pursuing? At your wedding did you select a specific, meaningful song? I did. And I sang it to my beautiful bride during our wedding. December 30, 1993. (Sing is a relative term here. I cried my way through it.)

Steven Curtis Chapman
“I Will Be Here”
http://youtu.be/qWzGmtro7cE

I have found over the years that I need to sing. My soul, my psyche, my emotions, they all need me to sing. They need to connect with music on a daily basis. I need to sing words, but music without words works well too. Orchestral pieces, marching bands, etc, work very well when the words are not enough. The beauty of a symphony can touch us deeply. Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” brings deep meaning and a connectedness to the gravity of what our greatest president dealt with on a daily basis. Have you ever felt emotion while listening to Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”? Yep. Thought so. How about the United States Marine Corps Hymn or the Navy Hymn? If you are an American and those don’t bring up emotions I don’t know what will.

Here’s one more to listen to. Again, tugging at the American sense of patriotism, what does this do to you?

National Anthem by The Tenors at Falcons vs. Seahawks game
http://youtu.be/sZoivVwaZpA

What songs/music moves you? Please share a link in the comments below.