Don’t Worry Be Happy – The Benefits of Music

‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is a popular song by Bobby McFerrin; its lyrics go like this:

“Here is a little song I wrote.
You might want to sing it note for note.
Don’t worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble.
But when you worry you make it double.
Don’t worry, be happy.
‘Cause when you worry your face will frown.
And that will bring everybody down.
So, don’t worry be happy.”

Music can make you happy and worry less! Listening to music causes the brain to release dopamine, a feel-good chemical. Essentially, people love music for much the same reason they’re drawn to sex, drugs, gambling, and delicious food. Music can change your mood, can help you communicate, is creative, but it doesn’t exactly have a point. Music is a highly developed art form, but one that remains essentially playful, we don’t say that we ‘work the piano’, we say we play the piano, the trumpet, the guitar and so on. Music is also not about finishing, if it were then the best musicians would be the ones who could play the fastest, no, the point of music is the music itself and the journey that it takes you on.

There is a branch of philosophy, ‘Philosophy of Music,’ that asks fundamental questions about the nature of music and our experience of it. Susan Langer, an American philosopher, and writer (one of the first women in American history to achieve an academic career in philosophy) described, “Music, through its temporal form, mirrors and reveals the inner nature of emotions, their shape, rhythm, and tempo. Music thus provides a uniquely faithful, as well as particularly lucid image of the inner life.”

As well as listening to music, learning to play music builds skills that can make a difference in both your professional and social life. Music trains your patience and discipline, it requires commitment and perseverance, but it also builds your confidence – particularly if you ever perform on stage, or even just in front of your family. Playing music can lower your blood pressure, increase your immune response, and heck, it can even make you smarter!

My youngest daughter Alizé is our family musician, she sings, plays the piano, the trumpet, and the ukulele. She’s not a professional, maybe one day, but I have really enjoyed seeing how music has helped her develop, express herself, and most important of all – to have fun. Alizé is singing ‘Butterfly’ by Little Mix in the video below.

LIFE IS MUSICAL IN NATURE. The whole point of life is to live and enjoy, so do it while the music plays.  Take your time, appreciate each and every moment, try not to worry because when you do, it makes ‘your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down.’

Your Quest, my dear friend, is ‘Don’t worry, be happy’.

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