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Music is the great equalizer. I say this because I truly believe it is the singular language that all humans can understand, and most do appreciate. From the sounds of nature to those man-made, music pervades every aspect and nuance of our lives. This rings true whether you have grown up in the Eastern World or the Western World. The North or the South. Even if you do not enjoy music, you cannot escape it. Any person capable of hearing sounds will hear rhythms, whether it be a waterfall, a bird song, a movie soundtrack. If you stop and listen, music and rhythm are everywhere, and the vast majority of the world’s population wouldn’t have it any other way.
Music has the ability to erase societal boundaries, to shake up the foundation. Many a protest rally have had their own personal soundtracks, concert halls and stadiums alight with people of all races, colours, religions. A band like the Rolling Stones or a performer such as Michael Jackson in his heyday transcends politics and social bias. It is simply music and performance art; a wonderful act of creativity that has the universal power to speak to people who can’t speak to each other. I have been to many concerts, and seen many bands. Sure, you will always find the prototypical fan of any band as the majority at any particular concert; but there are always those you wouldn’t expect to see. Those of perceived differences; yet, here you are, enjoying the same show. There is no tension at a music event borne simply of the fans attending. The fans are there to see the band, to see the musicians they love because of the music they play. It simply doesn’t matter what a fellow fan believes or what colour skin they have, you are bonded because you’re at the same show.
There is purity in the enjoyment of music, a purity that we all share in those quiet moments alone when we put on our favourite songs and embrace them in our own special way. This is the universal appeal of music, the fact that no matter where you are or who you are, you have a favourite song and a special way that it speaks to you. But while the appeal is universal, the personalization of our favourite songs and rhythms is what really speaks to us, what really gets into our souls. Memory is the best example. Music and memory are so closely tied together that many people use music as a study aide, or as a way to jog their memories at a later date. The structure of music itself lends our brains to fully open up, to use the whole of the brain. The left, or logical side, processes verbal communication, while the right, or creative side, processes rhythms and non-verbal sounds such as music. Hence, when music is played, the brain perks up and takes notice, the left side processing and retaining the lyrics for a later time, the right picking up the rhythm and storing it away for a toe-tapping session down the road. This kind of brain dominance may explain why I can remember the lyrics to almost every song I’ve ever heard, yet I often forget where I’ve put my wallet. The human mind and body seem naturally conditioned to create and listen to music.
When I was a disc jockey, I saw music do some strange and interesting things to people. Granted, I was a DJ in a club, and people were often quite drunk, but still, it never ceased to amaze me the effect that a certain song at a certain time could have on a club full of people. The club that I worked at was an eclectic mix of people, different ages and musical tastes across the board. But there are a few songs out there in our culture that can bring a whole room together, can get people dancing and singing and acting like best friends. I can only assume that this rings true in cultures throughout the world. Religion is also closely tied to music. Attend a church of any faith, and at some point during the ceremony there will be a choir singing or music of some kind playing. How many other things can you find at both a house of worship, and a place where drunks congregate?
I had a notion to try and shut music out of my life, to try a little experiment. I was going to avoid television, not listen to the radio or play my drums. I was going to intentionally avoid music for as long as I could. The minute I walked out of my door, a car drove by with the radio on. I got in to the car with my fiancée and she drove me to work in eerie silence. I walked into work; and our company radio station was on. At lunch that day, numerous cell phones rang with cutesy little musical tones, and I gave up. I realized that at least in a normal day in Canada, music is impossible to escape. When I got home, I decided to try another experiment; I would flick the channels on the television to see how many I could go through without hearing any music. I did this for thirty minutes, through all types of sports, music, network, and French channels, and the most I made it through in that span of time without hearing music was four. I only have 70 channels, so I cycled through a lot, but still, four. I wasn’t surprised. Music is the only form of media that other forms of media need to fill them out. Radio, television, and film can all exist without each other, but they all need music. Newspapers and print media are the exception to the musical rule, but most people listen to the radio while they read the paper anyway. Can you imagine a movie without a soundtrack? Or a television show without a theme song? Radio without music? There is talk radio, but even they have theme songs and commercials with music. Advertising feasts on music. They use it in all avenues, even occasionally in print media. I remember opening a magazine once in December and having it sing Jingle Bells to me. There was a tiny, triggered mechanism inside with a little music box attached. Aside from public service announcements, I can think of few commercials I’ve ever seen that didn’t have some kind of music, if not obscene amounts. Music has even recently become one of the more prominent features of a video game. A video game that doesn’t feature a stand-out soundtrack in today’s age is a game that isn’t worth playing. They even sell video game soundtracks in music stores.
Music is everywhere, as I’ve indicated, and perhaps the greatest bastion of proof I could find was the Internet. As I was downloading vast amounts of music from all different genres and cultural spectrums, I noticed a trend. Many people from other parts of the world had Canadian and American music. Many Canadian and American users had tons of world music from other cultures. I was downloading a recent top ten hit, and of the eight users I was getting it from, one was from Kuwait and another from Ireland. I then began thinking of I-Pods, cell phones, all the different media devices that now play MP3’s. People can literally carry a lifetime’s worth of music in their pocket. Movies and video games are also following a similar trend, but as we know, neither platform would be nearly as entertaining without their accompanying soundtrack.
All of the times I have had a memory sparked by a song, or saw goose bumps arise during a guitar solo or emotional song, have brought me to believe that music and rhythm are integral to the soul of every person. There is nothing that can compare to music’s ability to unite, to inspire, to cause any form of emotional reaction from any kind of person. I have found nothing, and am convinced I will find nothing that appeals to the enjoyment of life more across the human race than music. Dancing, singing, enjoying each other’s company to the beat of the world; that is what music is all about. It is the universal language, the great equalizer. It is the rhythm of life.

Sir Smittius
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