Music and Freedom

Music and freedom have always gone hand in hand. Freedom from persecution, freedom from annihilation, freedom from segregation all have had music as one of their ancillary weapons. Music has a unique quality of stirring the very basic and essential of human needs – Freedom. Most of the songs of the bygone era were more about freedom from oppression, a kind of a rebellious ode to the society that enslaved its citizens. Only recently, music has progressed to the mind’s trapping of the freedom. In this author’s humble opinion, the hippie era was instrumental in liberating the slavery of the mind by its conscious mind and enabling it to be free. Free as the mind can be.  Hippies lived music and in some places sought it as a replacement for drugs / alcohol.

An inspired quote says Mind can be free only as far as it can fly. This suggests that the mind is capable of flying and testing new boundaries to itself. Music is one of the wings on which it can undertake this journey. Some people undertake this journey farther than others. The only reward of going far is the reward for oneself. The mind rises up and there is an inherent self-satisfaction which is felt by the mind.

Most people ‘listen’ to music, but very recently do they FEEL it. This feel of music comes very rarely, and may I add, is slightly less rare when the recipient is under the influence of alcohol or other euphoria inducing substances.  But these substances are not a pre-requisite for feeling music. In fact, we routinely see women getting all psychotic and becoming ‘spirit’ driven souls when engrossed in a religion discourse which involves music. Case in point being the various musical discourses / festivals throughout India. You must have seen the various swaying women (and men) in their religious fervor and gaiety.

This relationship between music and the liberation of mind is a very poorly understood one. One can ask any number of respondents for the answer and scarcely he / she shall receive the same reply.  It is a good thing that its not understood, otherwise it would have been documented and processed. Then, the whole power of music would have been lost.

‘It has to set you free’ – Jim Morrison in the song ‘The End’. Thanks to all the musicians who have enabled the lesser souls to undertake the journey towards liberation.  Maybe that’s the theme to the song by Ac/ Dc – ‘For those about to rock, we salute you’