How Music Moves Us

Dec 27

How Music Moves Us

Before I discuss my familial and cultural background, I would like to paint a picture depicting personal moments that shaped my childhood as a first-generation resident in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. I did not know what was so appealing about the off-beat punctuation that dominates reggae music. Yet when I heard this African-style music out of the over-the-shoulder boombox of a passerby, or the stereo system of a passing car, it sang to a part of my soul that made me feel at ease and at home. An example of such a song would be the famous “One Love” by Bob Marley. Its message is simple - yet deep and powerful; “let’s sing together and feel alright.” In a rough neighborhood like Crown Heights in the 1990s and early 2000s, these messages were needed and helped individuals like myself and those around me to live and carry on.

Similarly, the aggressive tones that accompanied the often powerful messages embedded in rap music that played on every corner of my street during the summer, spoke to a pain that resonated with me in a way that I had trouble placing yet I knew was there. In Tupac Shakur’s song “Dear Mamma,” the twists and turns in the lyrics are somehow heart-wrenching and heart-warming at the same time. He shares the struggles of his “poor single mother on welfare… comin' home after work late… in the kitchen, tryin' to fix us a hot plate…” Yet with all this pain and lack of resources that was omnipresent in the black community, “Mama made miracles every Thanksgivin'...” I feel fortunate to have grown up around the kind of diversity that existed in Crown Heights which exposed me to these messages early on. For all of the negative talk that has been expressed regarding rap music, I personally view rap as an expression of pain and an instrument of healing.

A book published in 2013 titled "Cultural Healing in the Caribbean" articulates this point about the power often found within musical expression that originated from African regions, especially as it pertains to healing and its contributions to people’s well-being. Reggae which is heavily influenced by the Rastafari Jamican-based religion, is composed of “Group drumming (which) breaks down social barriers, promotes freedom of expression, nonverbal communication, unity, and cooperation. It decreases depression, anxiety, and stress, boosts the immune system functioning, and benefits physical health” (Morgan, 2013). These features in African-based music that encompassed my childhood were soothing and pleasant to hear whenever I encountered them (even though they were technically from outside of my own orthodox community). Nowadays, I go back to these sounds and tones and always find comfort and solace within them.

My parents grew up in the Middle East and Central America in orthodox Sephardic Jewish homes. For multiple reasons when they arrived in America, they joined the Jewish community in Crown Heights which consisted of predominantly Ashkenazi Jews. As a result, the school that I attended was run by European Jews who differ in many ways from my ancestors - a key difference being the way they pray and the styles of the hymns and songs they sing. On Saturday during the sabbath (Jewish day of rest) meals, my dad would lead our family through many Sephardic songs that featured great rhythmic patterns and melodic nuances. As a child, these were the songs I loved most. “The Revivo Brothers” is a Middle Eastern musical band that is led by three brothers that hail from the Sephardic “Revivo” family. Their performance of a song called “Habibi Ya Eini” which loosely translates to “the love(/apple) of my eye” is a song that I feel encapsulates the energy and tonality of the type of Sephardic music I was raised with.

In school and throughout most of the homes in my community, the dominant music was what I would call “typical Ashkenazi-based music.” The reason I call it “Ashkenazi-based” is because most of these songs are Americanized versions of melodies that originated in European Jewish music. This type of music has always been my least favorite because it was usually both lyrically and musically extremely repetitive and boring. Almost all of this American-Ashkenazi kind of music followed a similar pattern, repeating religious/biblical verses over and over again. The song “Esa Einai” is an example of such a song featuring biblical verses from the book of Psalms (traditionally considered to have been authored by the famous king David from the bible. This song happens to be from the better, less repetitive typical Ashkenazi-based music, but I chose to present this one so I can depict both the positive and (to me - ) less pleasing elements of this kind of music.

Similar to other religions, Judaism contains within it many groups/denominations and sub-groups. Within the Ashkenazi group of Jews, there is a group known as the “Hasidic” movement. My community of origin is a subgroup of the Hasidic movement known as the “Chabad” or “Lubavitch” movement. The Chabad movement began in a town in a small town in Russia called “Lubavitch” which loosely translates from Yiddish to “The Town of Love (“luba” meaning love).” In my high school and college years, I grew very fond of the non-lyrical melodies that were part and parcel of the Lubavitch movement and lifestyle. These melodies were different than typical Ashkenazi songs because they were elaborate and intricate - similar in many ways to famous lengthy compositions from non-Jewish European composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

It is difficult to describe the nature of Chabad “nigunim” (plural for nigun) - which is the term used for these types of lengthy melodies. Perhaps the best way to endeavor to explain these tunes and the meaning embedded within them would be to elaborate on some of the literature regarding nigunim found in texts written by prominent Chabad Lubavitch rabbis. In a publication called the “Hayom Yom” written by rabbi Menachem Schneerson, there is a discussion about one of the previous Chabad rabbis who would always study in a melodic tone. It said about this rabbi that his melodies were so representative of what he was learning that “one could tell from the tone/song alone what subject or topic the rabbi was immersed in at that moment” (Schneersohn, 1980). Another quote that speaks to how these melodies are viewed comes from the founder of the Chabad movement known as the “Alter Rebbe” who once noted that “A nigun is not just a melody. Just as speech is the quill of the heart, a nigun is the pen/quill of the soul.”

Indeed when one listens to a nigun, he feels that the composer of the song is embarking on an emotional journey and taking his audience with him. The ups and downs in the songs feel like the ups and downs of life, becoming ever so relatable and healing because the listener truly feels that he is no longer alone in the tumultuous journey of their own life. This is similar to reggae where there is a simplistic yet deep meaningful part to the music that somehow penetrates the soul of the listener. My absolute favorite nigun and maybe even song of all time is a song called “Der Pastach” meaning “The Shepherd.” It is long and rich and pulls together everything that is special about the nigun. The author of the song is not known but it is said that it is compiled from tunes that shepherds used to play and sing to their flock as they traveled through the pasture. Simplistic yet beautiful, it touches a tender part of the soul that searches for peace and tranquility in the midst of turmoil and chaos. This song has always been special to me and has carried me through many personal challenges on my own journey working toward peace and happiness.

The power of music and questions about how and why it moves us the way it does is something that has been discussed and investigated for centuries. Today, there are neuroscientists that are looking at possible regions in the brain that might be linked to the processing of music. Progress is being made but much of it is non-definitive. Interestingly, based on a journal titled “Scientific perspectives on music therapy,” it appears that there has not been much progress in the field of music therapy and psychoacoustics yet. In this 2005 journal it states how “Neuroscientific research in music is giving rise to new ideas, perspectives, and methods” yet at the same time, “Evidence shows the effectiveness of music therapy for treating certain diseases, but the question of what it is in music therapy that works remains largely unanswered” (Hillecke, 2005). These findings seem similar to the current consensus regarding the therapeutic aspect of music which essentially states “we know that it works, but not exactly how…”

What remains true is that music is a universal medium where people connect with others on multiple levels. The unifying ability that we see in music may be the element that makes it so remarkable. If music is the “pen of the soul,” then perhaps its power lies in its ability to bring one soul closer to the other and produce closeness and community in the face of loneliness and despair. This is a major theme that I have observed over the semester - how music has connected and uplifted otherwise abused and helpless groups of people.

Throughout all of my musical experiences, regardless of which part of the globe it came from, the goal and outcome were the same. I felt less alone and more connected. Only recently did I make the connection that perhaps my feelings of closeness to African music are related to the fact that a large portion of my family is from North Africa. The same follows for Spanish, Middle Eastern, and European music… Music has allowed me to connect and be emotionally moved by so many. I sometimes wonder - if we allowed ourselves to be moved by all kinds of music would we be able to achieve greater unity in the world? What would that look like? I would love to see that kind of world… Who knows, maybe this can happen sometime in the near future…

Works Cited

Hillecke, Thomas, Anne Nickel, and Hans Volker Bolay. "Scientific perspectives on music therapy." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1060.1 (2005): 271-282.

Morgan, Kai AD. "Cultural Healing in the Caribbean." Caribbean healing traditions: Implications for health and mental health (2013): 164.

Schneersohn, M. M. "HaYom Yom (A compilation of Hasidic teachings)." New York: Kehot (1980).

Songs Referenced

Bob Marley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzirEhHYXxU

Tupac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2aqxtAETJs

Revivo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLOH946mSVQ

Esa Einai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGnfwtlqZ2M

Der Pastach