Words and Feelings and Music

       What can convey emotion most effectively? Music or words? I got to thinking about this the other day as I watched a movie based on a book I had read. Certain parts of the movie seemed for dramatic or significant than they did in the book, and I drove myself crazy wondering about it until I realized that it was the music that was carrying the emotion. The book created strong imagery to evoke emotion, but the music coaxed it out of the pages. Is one more effective than the other?
       Words can conjure up entire worlds, illustrate the human struggles that unite us, and tap into peoples' hearts and minds to make them truly feel and understand the author's purpose; their power is unmeasurable. There is a poem by Amy Lowell called “A Lover” that I think demonstrates that power rather nicely. It reads like this:


       “If I could catch the green lantern of the firefly

        I could see to write you a letter”


It's short and simple, but extremely effective. Can you feel the longing? The ache of a lover's heart? The extent to which the speaker would go to merely write a letter to the one she loves gives off a strong sense of longing in a matter of 18 words.
       Music, like written works, can summon the same sort of emotional effect in similar ways. For example, it uses tools too, like dynamics, key signatures, and phrasing (the syntax of the musical world). There is a piece by the Piano Guys that just makes me feel elated. It combines a piece by Beethoven with a more modern piece by the band One Republic.






       The cello pulls out such a rich sound, and when layered with a full orchestra, it just makes me feel like golden bubbles are swelling up in my stomach; I feel inspired. The song has a lot of build, starting with a cello and piano, then adding on percussion and additional strings. The emphasize on the first note of each phrase gives the song drive and the rich tone helps it give listeners that swelling feeling, tapping into their hearts.
       Written works and musical ones work in similar ways to poke at people's emotions. Using tools specific to their craft, both art forms manage to sneak their way into the reader or listener's hearts to make them feel something. It is hard to say if either is more effective than the other. On one hand, written works entail more of a mental connect to the emotions felt, but musical pieces have the power to sweep you up completely in an instant. It truly depends on what the purpose is. Words and music alike tap into the core of human emotion to connect people to people in the similar ways we think and feel.