Are we losing touch with meaningful music?

From the perspective of a songwriter

I recently had a discussion with my boyfriend over what kind of music we considered to be romantic versus melancholic. He emphasized how slower music made him sad, that even if the words were happy, the tune was sad. He told me that most of my music is depressing. To me, slow music is beautiful and more sincere than upbeat, danceable music.

I later asked my mother, “You know of that feeling you get when you listen to a slow song performed live and your soul leaves your body?” She looked at me with a confused expression.

It was then when I realized that my love for music is not a universal experience.

I saw a video of a person on social media who said that they used to believe that they could feel God’s presence in church. They later realized that it was just an appreciation of live music that they were feeling because they felt the same way at a One Direction concert. Aside from the fact that this is hilarious, I completely understand where this person is coming from.

When I am listening to slow music, especially when performed live or on loudspeaker in the car, I experience an emotion that I cannot quite find a name for. It is similar to the feeling of utter awe, passion or love.

In the search for a description of this feeling, I came across the word “frisson,” a French word meaning “aesthetic chills,” describing the chills that an individual may feel running down their spine and under their skin when looking at a beautiful piece of art, reading something remarkable, listening to a lovely song or touching a lover.

When a beautiful song plays, I can almost feel the melody reaching into my chest, grabbing my heartstrings and gently pulling my soul out of my body with a soft caress only a divinity could master. As the music plays, I can see a beautiful mosaic of colors and images and I am transported to a different world.

The Disney film, SOUL, does a great job discussing the meaning of music, emotion translated into sound, into art. In the film, there is a place called “The Zone,” where people go when they are fully immersed in what they truly love. For the main character, this is jazz music. The Zone resembles a transcendent, spiritual state of mind, portraying jazz as a soul-strung transformative passion for the main character. The film does a wonderful job appreciating the African American and Black roots of jazz, including jazz clubs and jam sessions, emphasizing the community and expression of jazz as an art.

As classical music continues to go out of style, I fear so does jazz, and so does slower music.

There have been many studies relating music preference to personality types and socioeconomic status. The majority of my college-age friends find slow music either boring or sad. The backbone of today’s mainstream music seems to be sensuality and danceability. I have found that I enjoy the music that correlates most with older adults. I prefer jazz, folk, alternative and older pop music to most of today’s mainstream hits. To me, it seems more beautiful, more meaningful, more wholesome.

This is not true for every hit song, but many of today’s popular American songs seem to lack depth. The most danceable songs in the United States are often simply about sex or partying. Even if the lyrics are very personal to the songwriter, listeners often have no idea what the song is even about.

I wonder if America’s competitive, capitalistic rat race encourages the inclination toward faster music. Everyone is always in a rush, and we forget to slow down, to appreciate the little things. Maybe that is why the listening activity of those who live in rural areas correlates positively with folk and country music.

Another factor could be TikTok and other social medias promoting short videos. The younger generations who seem to have shorter attention spans may be less inclined to listen to slower music.

I fear that slow songs are gradually losing their appeal more with every younger generation. I fear that classic music genres are becoming less appreciated. I fear that society is losing touch with meaningful music.

Dear audience, I plead with you, go to a jazz club or a small café with live music and listen intently. It is life changing.