Let music unify and heal our society
I am one of very few people on this planet who genuinely cares about her Spotify profile. I have been known to make a playlist private when it’s embarassing, spend hours on the Discover pages and follow a trail of artists until I’m so far in that the songs have less than 100 plays. I have been shamed many times for being the only person who cares about how her music taste comes across — and I half-jokingly say that it’s by far my most important “social media.”
Spotify was undoubtedly the catalyst in my music exploration. Once in awhile, I like to scroll through my old playlists and see the evolution of my music taste over the years. What always struck me was the healing power that artists hold — how Bon Iver can have the same impact that Fall Out Boy has on a different person. I can almost always remember an emotion associated with a song or a playlist, and I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to the artists who accompanied me through any given period of my life.
While my playlists were the soundtrack to the most formative years of my life in good times and bad, the concerts were some of the highlights. There are few experiences that I hold closer to my heart than seeing my favorite bands live. The excitement has never once wavered, not even in my memories.
When I heard about the Paris attacks at the Eagles of Death Metal concert nearly two years ago, I remember feeling absolutely heartbroken. The loss of lives was jarring, and I was horrified that one of my most treasured activities was being taken over by terror. The place that had come to be a carefree sanctuary was now plagued with pain and suffering. The problems that people had come precisely to escape had now embedded themselves in the experience. The same feelings resurfaced this weekend after hearing about the Vegas shootings. When I told my parents my plans to go to a concert this week, their immediate reaction was apprehension and fear that something could happen.
While concerts may seem practical targets for terror attacks, there are underlying themes of concerts that these cruel attackers attempt to undermine. The unity of standing shoulder to shoulder with someone who has an entirely different association with the songs being performed, but is still able to sing and dance to the same words. The gratitude that is shared between the performers and the audience. Empathy is
the entire principle behind music — the ability to understand the artist’s’ emotions and resonate deeply with their message. Concerts are representative of values that we as a society strive to emulate. This, though, feels far too important to give up in fear that something might happen. But more importantly, it feels far too important to just simply hope that nothing will happen.
Complacency is incredibly dangerous. Establishing this as the status quo allows limitless pain and suffering to become the norm. Harnessing the empathy, outrage and pain that millions around the world are feeling is the only way to ensure that the future will be different.
Music is dynamic, unifying and healing — the thing that is being corrupted is what we need most. I can only hope that future teenagers have the same opportunities for self-actualization and identity development that I found in music over the years.
Some of my strongest relationships have been built around music, a shared love for concerts and the ability to establish an immediate connection with the ones around me through this is something that I can no longer take for granted. And who knows, maybe in 10 years, I’ll be looking at a playlist that I made tonight, remembering exactly what I felt at this moment in my sophomore year — while living in a society that learned from the mistakes of our past.
Nayanika Kapoor is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political economy. Her column, “In-Transit,” runs every other Friday.