Why is it that music
At its most beautiful
Opens a wound in us
An ache a desolation
Deep as a homesickness
For some far-off
And half-forgotten country
(“Music,” by Anne Porter, Living Things: Collected Poems, 2006)
Last night, a friend and I went to see a film by Syrian-Canadian filmmaker Amar Chebib in a special viewing at the beautiful Aga Kahn museum in Toronto. Wajd is a poignant story of three Syrian musicians turned refugees, filmed over a five year period beginning in 2010, one year before the civil war began. The film’s footage is woven from segments of their daily lives, images of the old Aleppo and the now-ravaged city, as well as the traditional ceremonies, music and songs of their pre-war homeland that no longer exist. Each man is forced to rebuild his life in exile, separated from family and friends, many of whom were killed in the war. Music is the vehicle through which they not only express their profound sorrow, but somehow find meaning in the aftermath of their traumatic pasts. The story, images and the music from the film, Wajd, have lingered in my mind the entire morning.
We are all the same
Listen to the reeds as they sway apart;
Hear them speak of lost friends.
At birth, you were cut from your bed,
Crying and grasping in separation.
Everyone listens, knowing your song.
You yearn for others who know your name,
And the words to your lament.
We are all the same, all the same,
Longing to find our way back;
Back to the one, back to the only one.
—Persian poet, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi, 1207-1273
It is no secret that music often triggers powerful recollections. “What seems to happen,” says Dr. Peter Janata, cognitive neuroscientist at University of California, Davis, “is that a piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movies that starts playing in our heads,” calling back memories of a particular person or place, one that you suddenly see face in your mind’s eye, what Janata refers to as “musical evoked autobiographical memories.”Janata discovered the region of the brain where we retrieve the past memories serves as a hub linking familiar music, memories and emotion. This same area, one of the last of the brain to atrophy, helps to explain why music can elicit strong responses from Alzheimer’s patients.
Not surprisingly, music has long history in medicine and healing dating back to the ancient Greeks, who believed it could heal the body and the soul. Ancient Egyptians and Native Americans incorporated singing and chanting as part of their healing rituals. And after World War II, The U.S. Veterans Administration incorporated music as an adjunct therapy for shell-shocked soldiers. Today, music therapy is widely used in hospitals and cancer centers to promote healing and enhance the quality of patients’ lives.
The power of music to integrate and cure is quite fundamental. It is the profoundest non-chemical medication.” — Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author of Awakenings
Music can help us heal in several different ways. It connects us to our feelings and even may help us connect with others. It reduces stress and anxiety, decreases pain, aids memory, helps us exercise, and may even improve our immune functioning. Research studies conducted with cancer patients have shown music as a way to help cope with disease symptoms and side effects of treatments. In a review of 52 research studies with a total of over 3700 participants, findings suggested that music therapy and music medicine interventions have beneficial effects patients’ quality of life, decreasing anxiety, improving moods as well as positive effects on fatigue, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and pain. Music therapy programs, whether it’s passive listening or group activities, are part of many cancer center programs.
Google “music and healing,” and you’ll find a number of articles attesting to the physiological and emotional benefits of music.
- It aids our autonomic nervous systems, positively affecting blood pressure, heartbeat and breathing. In fact, music can actually improve the overall functioning of our cardiovascular systems.
- It helps reduce stress, aid relaxation and alleviate depression.
- In cancer patients, music can decrease anxiety. Together with anti-nausea drugs, music can help to ease nausea and vomiting accompanying chemotherapy.
- It relieves short-term pain and decreases the need for pain medication.
- It’s effective in diminishing pre-surgical anxiety and beneficial for patients with high blood pressure.
- Music even plays a role in improving troubled teens’ self-esteem and academic performance.
We’ve all experienced how powerful music is in evoking memories of the people, places and emotions we’ve experienced in the past. Not only can music trigger life stories, but it also can enhance memory functioning and face-name recognition among Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.
On one of my last visits with my mother, who died of Alzheimer’s disease several years ago, I was shocked to see the progression in her physical and mental deterioration in the few weeks since I’d last visited. She was virtually unresponsive, unable to walk, and sitting motionless in a wheelchair, her head bobbing listlessly toward her chest. At a loss, I wheeled her outdoors and into the garden of the Alzheimer’s facility where she was living. I positioned her chair next to a bougainvillea, furious with brilliant red blooms, hoping for a glimmer of life, some sign my mother was still present.
As we sat together, I took her hand and, impulsively, began singing, the lyrics of a familiar song she’d often sang to me as a child. “Let me call you sweetheart,” I began, my voice shaky as I struggled to recall the lyrics. “I’m in love with you/Let me hear you whisper…” As I sang, my mother slowly raised her head to look at me. A smile appeared on her face, and for a moment, the light returned in her eyes. “Why,” she said, struggling to speak, “it’s Sha-ron!” Then smiling, she closed her eyes, and said, “I’m…hap-py,” and quietly, disappeared back into her darkness. There were tears in my eyes, but for a moment, I’d seen my mother come to life, thanks to an old familiar song. It was the last time I saw her–she died only a few days afterward–but the memory of that day, the bougainvillea, her slow and momentary awakening, and an old love song that made her smile, will never be forgotten.
“Where words fail, music speaks.” — Hans Christian Andersen
Writing Suggestions:
Whether you’ve had cancer, another illness, or suffered trauma, separation or loss, how has music played a part in your life? Music, even a song as simple as “Happy Birthday,” is a powerful prompt for writing. Here are a few suggestions for writing:
- Perhaps there was particular music that helped you through cancer treatment or another difficult time. Listen to it again, closing your eyes, and try to remember that time and how the music made you feel.
- Recall a lullaby from childhood, a favorite song, a bit of classical music, or even the somewhat dissonant music from your high school band. What memories or stories does the music trigger?
- Take any favorite recording, classical, jazz, new age, or pop, and listen to it. Keep your notebook nearby. As you listen, capture the random thoughts and associations that come to mind. Once the recording ends, open your notebook and begin free writing. Do this for five minutes. When you finish, re-read what you’ve written and underline the sentence that has the most power for you. Use that sentence to begin writing again on a fresh page. Set the timer for 15 minutes and see where it takes you.
- Have you ever tried to create a soundtrack for your life to date? Shortly after my first husband drowned, I sat up into the wee hours of morning, listening to and compiling a soundtrack of our life together–I played it for weeks afterward, smiling, crying, laughing–it was something that helped me recover from the loss and sorrow I found difficult to express. What would the soundtrack of your life include?