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Voice of the Soul by Nathan Pickle |
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I have a tendency to hide. I retreat within myself whenever I am threatened, lonely, or worn out by life. It's easier to put up a façade of calm composure than to wear my heart on my sleeve, constantly exposing my feelings. Allowing myself to become vulnerable to the scathing public eye requires confidence, and I prefer to keep my emotions carefully hidden.
Despite my inhibitions, music slowly but inevitably creates a bond between myself and other people. Back-porch blues, hardcore metal, and reggae concerts are vastly different, but I always have the same feeling that I am out of place before the show; I don't know why the girl in front of me chose to wear that particular shirt or why the kid on my right keeps elbowing me. I am surrounded by strangers who dress and act differently than I do, and none of them can identify with my experiences. The music hall is nothing more than a jumbled collection of contrasting personalities.
As the music begins to play, however, people find comfort in the sincere emotion embodied in the song. The spellbinding harmonies coupled with the artist's honest revelation of his sorrow, joy, or frustration blends the crowd together into a single-minded entity. Eyes slowly close in the dimly lit room, heads bob on the rolling swells of the melody, and feet tap in rhythm as the music invites people to open up in this place where every heart is in tune. I feel like the music is not being played in front of me as much as it is moving through me and everyone around me; I allow myself to be swallowed up by the captivating melody of the rhythms throbbing through us.
I can also feel deeply connected with others when I am completely alone. I love lying awake during the peaceful hours of the early morning, my ears filled with a resonating harmony from my stereo, or driving home late at night with nothing but the music from the speakers. At times like these, the song can be so powerful that I cannot sing loud enough; I just sit and let the song say things that are beyond my power to express. Even though I might be by myself, I am not at all lonely; I am comforted by the fact that someone I may never meet feels exactly the same way that I feel.
Songs have an overwhelmingly powerful ability to draw a person's spirit out from behind every wall surrounding it. Melodies and harmonies and notes and lyrics far surpass spoken words in capturing the emotions of a laugh, a tear, or a sigh. Music has the strength to draw out the barricaded souls of men and melt them together into one common identity.
I believe in the voice of the soul. I believe in music.
Nathan Pickle is a physics major from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
