MUSIC AND ME

MUSIC AND ME

Music is divine. It gives solace to the troubled mind. There are so many health benefits of music. It's heart-healthy. Research has shown that blood flows more easily when music is played, elevates mood, reduces stress, relieves symptoms of depression, stimulates memories, eases pain, helps people eat less, helps people in works endurance, makes the baby sleep, and so on.

Next to reading books and writing articles, I love listening to music. Lilting is the correct word to be used. It is characterized by a rhythmical swing, a spirited and cheerful song or tune. It gives a swing, flow, or cadence.

I am a music addict. My wife, daughter, and granddaughter are good singers. Some of my relatives are good singers. I love listening to good music. If I get a tune early in the morning, I go on humming it for the whole day. It may belong to any genre, classical or movie songs in any language. I spend an hour a day listening to good music.

My favorite singers are GNB, MLV, Sudha Ragunathan in Carnatic music, and Mohd. Rafi, and Kishore Kumar in movie songs. I like other singers also who have a good voice. GNB, MS, DKP, Semmangudi, Chembai, and Maharajapuram developed their own style of singing. But I like the fast-paced style of GNB.

Elderly people say that they like only old movie songs and not new songs. The younger generation says that they like only the new songs and not the old ones. Both of them are wrong and they should realize that both types are good and they should try to enjoy both instead of disliking the other.

Some people say that they are able to enjoy only Carnatic music and movie songs in their mother tongue. That is not the correct view. If we know the lyrics, we can appreciate the meaning. But music is different. Most of the Carnatic songs are in Telugu and we enjoy them without even knowing the meaning. If we are particular about the meaning, we will only be missing the abundant soulful music available around our nation.

I am 77 and I go with the trend. I like all types of songs. To enjoy a song, I give importance to three aspects.

1. The voice of the singer must be unique and beautiful.

2. The tune must be different and melodious.

3. The lyrics must be clear and audible.

The present-day movie songs are totally based on the western type. Unlike the old songs, the tune is almost the same but only the voice modulation is different. Moreover, the stereo recording makes it even worse. So, I pick up only those songs which are different and melodious.

I have the Spotify app installed on my iPhone by my daughter. It is the most popular and cheapest music app in the world with about 894K membership and the premium membership is about Rs.200 Per month which can be shared by 6 people. I am included along with the four members of my daughter’s family.

I have downloaded more than 450 songs that run for nearly 30 hours. I have 21 playlists viz. Classical, SD Burman, Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, AM Raja, TMS, PB Srinivas, Chandrababu, Sid Sriram, Armaan Malik, Arjit Singh, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil old, Tamil, Tamil new, English, and My pick.

Whenever I listen to a melodious song or see a classical movie or write a good article, I do not know why instantly I get an adrenaline rush to share it with the person whom I love the most. But unfortunately, all are busy and no one is interested.