People listen to music for different reasons and at different times. Why is music important to many people? Give specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Confucius taught people to be gentle by using music, it shows the importance of music in the Chinese culture. One representation of Chinese music is poetry. Chinese poetry was sung for expressing feelings, viewpoints or stories in ancient times. It was recorded as poems and survive until today. Shijing is the canonical book associated with Confucianism. It is known as the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry. It’s collection of popular songs include love, courtship, ritual or sacrifice. Poetry provides a format and a platform to express deep emotions, culture, and insights towards values across more than two millennia. Sometimes it’ s interesting when I read the poetry and realize that history repeats itself. For example, there is a poem written to describe a man hearing laughter from girls inside a house. He thought it was cute and tried to court the girls. However, the girls refused him. The final sentence reflects that he might be upset with the girls. One sentence becomes an idiom for comforting people who are heartbroken. There is a lot of grass in the world, don’t focus on a flower. We learn that some worries last for centuries. Until now, I heard of a guy who convinced a girl that he would like to forget the flower and see the grass around her.
Besides stories, music is a way to express opinions. Recently, a song called Fragile was released. This song touches on sensitive social and political topics between Taiwan and China. Singers wore pink in the video to symbolize internet users who are patriotic keyboard warriors from China. The lyrics connected with trading policies and human right to satirize China’s hypocry. There is another song named Dear Mr. President which is a letter for President Bush. It criticizes several areas of Bush’s administration, including the Iraq War, opposition to gay marriage and the gay rights movement and lack of empathy for poor and middle-class citizens. The singer cleverly used President Bush’s own words against him. Furthermore, the song received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Music is also used for promotion. Companies use catchy rhythm to make consumers remember their brand. The classic one is sisi, this is a cold medicine commercial. The song is repetitive and the rhythm sticks in one’s mind. I believe every Taiwanese can sing this commercial song although we are reluctant. There is another famous song named We Are The World. This song is written for donating to a non-profit foundation which provides food and relief aid to starving people in Africa. This song also helps to draw attention to hunger and homelessness in the United States.
Music inspires and entertains us, forming the soundtrack of our lives. Sometimes, when we feel down or happy, we would find songs which describe the situation we encounter. Through music, we see the same moon our ancestors have seen, and feel the same feelings. We know we are not lonely when facing depression. Music constitutes cultural identity and viewpoints. We know important values through national anthems and understand social issues through pop music. Music s delivers information, and smart people use it to make people memorize brands name. Music enlightens our lives; we sing whenever we like.
