Love is Music is Love.

Hang with me while I explore my jumbled thoughts and hopefully uncover my point…

I am perpetually amazed by the way music brings people together. The radio. Coffee shops. Concerts. Intimate spaces. Extravagant halls. Bathrooms. Kitchens. Music can be found all around us, is an experience that is unique for every person, and can unite thousands of people.

Earlier this year, I was having dinner with the guy I was dating at the time and somehow we got on the topic of what matters to us and the core of who we are. Music is his blood so that topic turned into a conversation about love, music, and connecting with others. The conversation has stuck with me partially cause it’s attractive for someone to talk about something they’re so passionate about and that’s part of their fabric and also because, since then, I’ve noticed how connection and sometimes love is part of listening to music – specifically live music – or watching a musician create.

When Paul Simon announced that this was going to be his farewell tour, I texted one of my best friends and fellow adventurers to see if she was up for seeing him live (the answer was something along the lines of “duh.”). For months we counted down the days until we’d be able to experience his music up close (read: seats in the 400s) and personal (read: with 16,000 of our closest friends).

His concert was in mid-September and was worth every tissue my sinus cold-ridden self brought along. First of all, and the super fans out there probably already know this, the guy has got moves. He could have danced on stage for 2 hours while the band played and I would have left perfectly happy. Our seats were higher up and along the side of the stage which made us feel like we were watching our favorite Grandpa Paul from the wings. But, it also let me watch the floor audience as if they were part of the show – which at times they were because of the show’s lighting design.

Watching the audience was almost as enjoyable as watching Paul because they seemed so happy. And that’s usually how it goes – people’s moods improving as they listen to a musician they like. Of course this is possible when a group of friends are listening to a Spotify playlist but it’s not quite the same as live music. The week following Paul, I’ll have seen Childish Gambino and gone to a SoFar show. Listening to live music at least once a month is on my alphabet list. Some sort of music is always playing in my head. Along with all of that, I have so many friends who are musicians. (Or at least it feels like I do.) And let me tell you…there’s something about being around them and their energy that is so enchanting.

In early September I was at a Gypsy Sally’s in Georgetown listening to Mindy Miller and her band play for a few hours. I left there with the highest of high endorphins that felt so rejuvenating.

Singing. Strumming. Hitting. Drumming. Blowing. Plucking. Shaking. 

However the music is being made, it’s mesmerizing. And there’s a reason music therapy exists or people call music a universal language. But it does so much more than that. It can connect to specific moments in my life. Moments of joy. Moments of pain. Moments of confusion. I’m sure four out of five dentists find that music unifies us in a way that we don’t get from other things. But really, there’s a reason we learn our ABCs to a tune, or why my sister’s French teacher used music and dance in her lessons.

I don’t know many people who would voluntarily immerse themselves into a crowd of thousands of people but will do it with vigor if their favorite artist is performing. Next time you see people leaving a concert, watch them. You may see them dancing or singing their way out of the venue to a tune they just heard or talking to others around them about the music. In a world that’s feels shaky at best, knowing music can connect us leaves me wondering how sharing music-focused space would improve our collective mental health, allow us to better communicate with one another, and bring a little more cheer to our environments. The next time you hear some good tunes in the grocery store, have a little dance party with another person in the aisle. Better yet, make your own music, see artists you like, go to more local venues. The forest would be quiet if only the best birds sang.