GOOD VIBRATIONS: PUTTING A POSITIVE SPIN ON MUSIC -

The good vibrations of music have the magic power to lift the spirit and soothe the soul. Music affects the emotions. It can make you happy or sad so it improves the mood and even has the power to heal due to its innumerable effects on the cells of the physical body. It can literally change the cells in your body. Music makes people happier and more productive while reducing stress, anxiety and depression. The heart dances with music and allows for improved breathing. People are more generous and trusting. Studies have shown that music improves memory and attention.

The Mozart Effect is where “the music involves the use of the whole brain. It improves memory, attention, physical coordination and mental development. The classical music stimulates the regeneration of brain cells.”

According to the atricle The Effect of Music on Human Health and Brain Growth by Sanjay Sharma, “Certain music improves the mood, intelligence, motivation and concentration. It also improves the quality of life and aids in physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. It helps in the treatment of autism, dementia, Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, emotional trauma, mental disorders, and depression. Music decreases anxiety, anger, stress, and frustration… Chickens lay more eggs and cows produce more milk when exposed to calm, relaxing music. The music of Beethoven, Verdi and Enya allowed mice recovering from heart surgery to live 20 days longer…. Those subjected to either silence or Strauss waltzes had no problem in the maze with a little advantage for the latter. Those exposed to voodoo drumming performed worse and finally became cannibalistic, hyperactive, aggressiveand even confused to complete the maze.”

“Rock music: The music heavy on basses like rap, Beatles, and noisy Rock damages the plants as is done by excess water or strong winds. The plants lean away from such music and sometimes die. According to the Medical Association of California, the amplified hard rock music caused permanent hearing loss in 41 out of 43 musicians. Classical Music: The plants entwined the speakers playing Hayden, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, Vivaldi, Mahler, Bach, and Indian Classical Music or Ragas or Vedic music. The plants grow better, large, uniform and lush green with healthy stems in such soft music. Heavy Metal: The heavy metal, new age and Celtic music increase the plant mass and fruit taste. Country and Western Music: Plants remained indifferent to such music. Jazz Music: It also leads to increased growth.”

The word ‘music’ comes from its root word, ‘muse’. The muses in Greek mythology had the ability to impart wisdom and inspire mankind with their ideas. Turn on the radio today and you will likely be inundated with soulless, repetitious music composed with electronic instruments, drum beats that are synchronized to a grid and, of course, autotuned singers, who have had the imperfections in their voice that give them character, sterilized. Lately, there has been growing resurgence on youTube of channels of reviewers that listen to music for the first time. A great many of them, who typically listen to vulgar rap lyrics or what is termed “trap” music or EDM/”trance” are now discovering “classic” rock for the first time or reacting to “soul” music. I am as guilty as anyone of being seduced by electronic music. I love the sound of the mini-moog synthesizer from ’70s hits like Frankenstein or Magic Man. But, like Bob Seger sang, “Just give me some of that old time rock and roll. Today’s music ain’t got the same soul. I like that old time rock and roll.” That rings as true today as it ever has. So many restaurants I eat at play the old favorites from the 1970s and ’80s.

Not too long ago, music consisted of guitars with strings that rang, pianos that struck strings and drummers that hit actual drumheads. All this produces frequency that resonates throughout the body cells, creating resonance or dissonance depending upon many factors such as what kind of strings are used and how much distortion is present. Acoustic music is more natural, more oganic. Electrified and amplified music is popular in heavy metal and often produces more distortion, but, surprisingly, at least according to the article, did not have an adverse effect. But maybe that is because plants can’t understand the meaning of the words in the overall message of the song? I also wonder what was classified as “heavy metal”. Did it include death metal?

Of course, rock music has long been accused of being the devil’s music, ever since its grandfather, Robert Johnson, allegedly sold his soul at the crossroads. There is the famous tritone chord claimed to be associated with the devil’s triton or “pitch” fork. For many years I have had a graphic of the twelve musical notes superimposed over a clock face. When you connect the sharps and flats which represent the black keys on a piano, the figure of a pentagram is traced.

Some people have pointed out that the tuning of music has been controlled and that the currently used tuning system of A=440 HZ is not in resonance with the human body. They claim 432 HZ is preferable. Supposedly, some artists like John Lennon employed that system, most notably in his global anthem, Imagine. Say what you want about the Beatles being a Tavistock creation, but John Lennon (or possibly his ghost writers) did write some amazingly positive songs, including All You Need Is Love, Give Peace a Chance, and Happy Xmas (War Is Over). And while a message of “all you need is love” technically might not be true since we need a balance and a contrasting negative in which “love” can be given or felt, in this world of duality, it is more pleasant to focus on the positive message of peace and love.

During the pandemic crisis, I have at certain stressful times listened to the uplifting, positive, happy music of bands like The Beach Boys or KC & The Sunshine Band, and immediately felt more calm and better. I guess you could say I was “pickin’ up good vibrations“. With songs like Good Vibrations and Kokomo, the Beach Boys’ music can transport your mind to your happy place, whether a sunny beach in southern California or a remote vacation spot off the Florida Keys or in the Caribbean Islands. My previous articles on music have focused primarily on the more negative aspects of music and how it can program us. In this article, I’d like to focus more on music that is positive, or at least pointing out the negative aspects of the world and how to transcend them.

While there are countless beautiful songs professing love and positivity — songs like Amazing Grace, All You Need is Love, Happy Xmas (War is Over), The Greatest Love of All, I Will Always Love You, What the World Needs Now Is Love, The Man In the Mirror, Heal The World, We Are the World, etc. — in this article I am going to look at a few other rock bands whose music I resonated with, either because it was positive, spiritual or exposed the hidden truth.

Many of the biggest rock classics of all-time have a “spiritual” element in them such as Stairway to Heaven which talks about “a lady we all know who shines white light and wants to show how everything still turns to gold”. It also talks about a “piper” who leads to reason and is calling you to join him. Hotel California by The Eagles shares many of the same elements, including a lady with a lit candle showing the listener “the way” which “could be heaven or hell“. And based on the fact that one can check out, but never leave, it is likely the latter. Even Lynyrd Skynyrd’s epic Freebird is, essentially, a song about freedom.

Sting, the ex-lead singer and writer of the rock band The Police is one songwriter who wrote a lot about the imprisoned state of the soul and its need for freedom. Even the name of the band touches on the subject. In Spirits in the Material World from the album Ghost in the Machine, Stings sings, “Our so-called leaders speak. With words they try to jail ya. They subjugate the meek, but it’s the rhetoric of failure. We are spirits in the material world.” When he went solo, he also had an album named Soul Cages.

One of my favorite groups when I was in high school was Rush. Granted, their occult logo is a naked man standing inside a pentagram, but they sang about the uplifting power of music. Their staple The Spirit of Radio says, “Begin the day with a friendly voice. A companion unobtrusive plays that song that’s so elusive and the magic music makes your morning mood… All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted, not so coldly charted. It’s really just a question of your honesty. One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity.”

Likewise, Rush’s concept album 2112 touched upon the liberating power of music. The song, penned by their late, great drummer Neil Peart, describes a man from a dystopian future who discovers a guitar in a cave and learns to play and discovers its healing ability. When he presents his discovery to the ruling elder priests. “I can’t wait to share this new wonder. The people will all see its light. Let them all make their own music… I’ve found an ancient miracle I thought that you should know. Listen to my music and hear what it can do. There’s something here as strong as life. I know that it will reach you.” The rulers (archons) belittle his discovery. “Yes, we know, it’s nothing new. It’s just a waste of time. We have no need for ancient ways. The world is doing fine. Another toy that helped destroy the elder race of man. Forget about your silly whim. It doesn’t fit the plan.”

The entire first side of their album Hemispheres featured an eighteen minute tale of the gods of love and reason battling it out in Armageddon, the Battle of Heart and Mind. The Prelude sets the backdrop: “When our weary world was young the struggle of the ancients first began. The gods of Love and Reason sought alone to rule the fate of man. They battled through the ages, but still neither force would yield. The people were divided, every soul a battlefield“. The two respective gods — Apollo, bringer of wisdom and Dionysys, bringer of love — plead their cases. The song stressed the need for a balance and thus the god of balance, Cygnus, came to unite the two hemispheres into one. “‘We will call you Cygnus. The God of Balance you shall be.’ THE SPHERE A KIND OF DREAM : “We can walk our road together if our goals are all the same. We can run alone and free if we pursue a different aim. Let the truth of Love be lighted. Let the love of truth shine clear. Sensibility, armed with sense and liberty, with the Heart and Mind united in a single perfect sphere.”

My favorite band during my college years was Yes. You can’t have a more positive name for a band than the very word we use for affirmation: ‘Yes’!! Though they tended to be a bit new agey due to angelic singer Jon Anderson’s beliefs in UFOs, many of their albums were spiritual in nature as can be seen by titles such as Going For The One, Keys to Ascension and Union. One song in particular on Union, Shock to the System, is quite revealing and begins, “Shock to the system, but you’re going back inside of the light. Shock to the freedom, only one more body of love in the rolling – They’re rolling back to you! Dreaming all the time; they be dreaming all the time… Shock to the rights of Mankind. And they won’t even go blind, When they see what’s going on. So, in answer to the prayer, The one you feel is there, The one you feel so close to, the order of the Sun. And everyone is one, And all the pieces fit together…”

My other favorite band was Pink Floyd. Their concept albums seemed very revealing. From the early A Saucerful of Secrets to Animals to Dark Side of the Moon to Wish You Were Here to The Wall. Roger Water’s solo album Amused to Death has a song called What God Wants and seems to touch upon the dual desires of a demiurgic god who wants both good and evil in the world. “God wants goodness. God wants light. God wants mayhem. God wants a clean fight ….God wants peace. God wants war. God wants famine. God wants chain stores. What God wants God gets…. God wants good. God wants bad.What God wants God gets.”

There are some revealing songs from today’s rock artists, such as Vicarious by Maynard James Keenan’s band, Tool, whose video and lyrics reveal the reality of parasites that live within us and vicariously feed off us. The song is sung from a first “person” perspective and the chorus proclaims, “‘Cause I need to watch things die from a distance. Vicariously, I live while the whole world dies.”

There are, of course, many artists and many songs that are positively oriented. One I learned of recently is the song Mother and Child Reunion by Paul Simon. It has been claimed to be about the Tibetan Buddhist teaching of recognizing the clear light of awareness at the moment of death, the reuniting the child soul back into the womb-like void of its mother : “I never been laid so low in such a mysterious way. And the course of a lifetime runs over and over again. But I would not give you false hope on this strange and mournful day when the mother and child reunion is only a motion away. Oh, the mother and child is only a moment away.” I know Paul has said it was based on a menu item in a Chinese restaurant, but is he referencing reincarnation and the mournful day of death, reassuring the listener that at any moment one can recognize the clear light?

John Lennon certainly referenced Eastern teachings with songs like Instant Karma and Mind Games. “We’re playing those mind games together… Chanting the mantra ‘peace on earth’. We all been playing those mind games forever…Love is the answer and you know that for sure…So keep on playing those mind games together, faith in the future out of The Now… Yeah we’re playing those mind games forever, projecting our images in space and in time. ‘Yes’ is the answer and you know that for sure. ‘Yes’ is surrender. You got to let it go. So keep on playing those mind games together. Doing the ritual dance in the sun. Millions of mind guerrillas putting their soul power to the karmic wheel. Keep on playing those mind games forever, raising the spirit of peace and love.”

The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows also touches on this concept of the clear light or luminous void: “Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream. It is not dying, it is not dying. Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void. It is shining, it is shining. Yet you may see the meaning of within. It is being, it is being…. So play the game ‘Existence’ to the end… … Of the beginning, of the beginning.”

TOPIMAGE BY PIXABAY