Music is known to relieve stress since the dawn of time. It has been acknowledged as the food for soul and even philosophers like Plato have not been resistant to the spell it can caste. Plato said, “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Music gives meaning to life in that it creates an aura for the rhythm of the universe to harmonise with daily lives of individuals. It tranquils the mind of a person in such a way that one feels on a higher level of imagination than one is on, generally pertaining to daily life activities. This is how music gives wings to the mind and lets imagination soar freely so that marvels can be produced. It of course, adds to the beauty of life and nature around us as it creates a more sensual experience out of all normal objects that we see, touch and smell everyday. Music is actually a more concrete yet intangible expression of feelings that any individual passes through at one or the other stage of one’s life. But do Bollywood songs serve the purpose of such elated catharsis?
The truth is, even if the contemporary music is based on relatively shallow subjects and the music comprises mainly of fast, noisy beats signature to party scenes, a complete era of this music is still known to be effective in relieving stress and allowing catharsis. A good song with meaningful lyrics sung in a melodious voice and that too, to intricate tunes of a guitar or a violin can help a person relax after a long, tiring day. In many countries including Pakistan, the evening transmissions of Radio Channels focus on playing good Bollywood music. The reason being that it has the required ups and downs of rhythm, the delicacies of tunes intertwined among themselves and most importantly, excellent lyrics. Golden old songs are what fit into this category most aptly, apart from a few select songs from the newer time periods.
On the other hand, contemporary songs which are, sadly devoid of lyrics that speak about romance and love, about beauty and frailty, about rainy days, deserts, and flowery gardens; devoid of music that stirs up the most sensitive parts of a human being’s soul; appeal to only a set mind set and probably help them with their catharsis as well. Human beings are a complicated race: each one is a universe in one’s self and therefore, for all the diverse kinds of souls that God has created, diverse needs have been chalked out and it is definitely owing to one or two of these needs that such music is flourishing by leaps and bounds in today’s modern world.
Therefore, Bollywood music, rich in language, tunes, rhythms, lyrics, words, concepts, ideas is what satisfactorily helps people relieve their stress merely by listening to songs or watching the video songs that they can identify with at any given moment. Music is the language of the universe and therefore when one’s emotions are reflected in the words and rhythm of a song, one feels as if the universe is itself mirroring one’s emotions and what else can be a better form of catharsis?
The truth is, even if the contemporary music is based on relatively shallow subjects and the music comprises mainly of fast, noisy beats signature to party scenes, a complete era of this music is still known to be effective in relieving stress and allowing catharsis. A good song with meaningful lyrics sung in a melodious voice and that too, to intricate tunes of a guitar or a violin can help a person relax after a long, tiring day. In many countries including Pakistan, the evening transmissions of Radio Channels focus on playing good Bollywood music. The reason being that it has the required ups and downs of rhythm, the delicacies of tunes intertwined among themselves and most importantly, excellent lyrics. Golden old songs are what fit into this category most aptly, apart from a few select songs from the newer time periods.
On the other hand, contemporary songs which are, sadly devoid of lyrics that speak about romance and love, about beauty and frailty, about rainy days, deserts, and flowery gardens; devoid of music that stirs up the most sensitive parts of a human being’s soul; appeal to only a set mind set and probably help them with their catharsis as well. Human beings are a complicated race: each one is a universe in one’s self and therefore, for all the diverse kinds of souls that God has created, diverse needs have been chalked out and it is definitely owing to one or two of these needs that such music is flourishing by leaps and bounds in today’s modern world.
Therefore, Bollywood music, rich in language, tunes, rhythms, lyrics, words, concepts, ideas is what satisfactorily helps people relieve their stress merely by listening to songs or watching the video songs that they can identify with at any given moment. Music is the language of the universe and therefore when one’s emotions are reflected in the words and rhythm of a song, one feels as if the universe is itself mirroring one’s emotions and what else can be a better form of catharsis?