William Shakespeare is credited for the commonly used phrase, The eyes are the window to the soul, that aptly captures the beauty of the human vulnerability, and also that really awkward feeling you get when your own eyes are being stared into. The adjective phrase I prefer to use when describing them is soul-baring. However, I don't think Shakespeare could have predicted the society we live in now. One in which music is not just for the rich and aristocratic sons of royalty but available to all people with little exception. Now music isn't just a coveted skill, but a form of self expression.
I'm sure this isn't a new age revelation. As our culture grew and different forms of music were created, opposed (some) and accepted, so too has its role in the human being. Even those who don't live their lives in music hear it on the radio, in commercial jingles, as ways to remember things and even alerts on their smartphones! For the tech-savvy individuals, there is social networking and music sharing apps that recognize music's roles in a person's life. Tinder has a feature where you can share your favorite song, Spotify has sharable playlists, Facebook has an "I'm listening to" option in their status updates, and even Twitter has ways to directly share links of music you are listening to, to your feed. It's clear that music has taken up a much more important role than it had in the past and for many people, the music they relate to is an extension of themselves.
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Personally, music plays more of a role in my life than I do. If I don't have music that matches my mood, I will be disgruntled, and my priority must be finding some music that does. However, I've met others who use music as an ornament or an accessory to their lives, like the icing on a cake. They play party songs on the way to a concert and jam out to jazz on a night in. Some wear their music like a badge of honor, a measure of loyalty, while still some make whole communities around their favorite band. One of my friends says he's Drake's biggest fan because he knows all the lyrics to all of his songs. My sister is a die-hard Twenty One Pilots fan, and all of her friends are, too. Even though many people I've met are moderate listeners, our differences in music are lost as soon as we have some music in common. Then we are on the track to fast friendship. Whether you're music-savvy or only know the Meow Mix jingle, music has become a language of its own in our society. The kinds of music we like, remember or ignore often say a lot about our personalities and who we are. So, on behalf of the great William Shakespeare, I amend his words to fit our world: Music is the window to the soul.
