Everyone listens to music at some point or another. You can’t avoid it your entire life unless you are a hermit crab or literally live under a rock. Music plays at stores, restaurants, on TV, and through almost every pair of headphones hidden beneath long hair and beanies. The genres are never-ending and are constantly forming in music studios all over the world. We all have our own preference and those songs that we hate. But what is it that makes music great? Why is that song a number one hit? What aspects of music drives us to listen to it?

Music is a universal language, much like math, and can be appreciated anywhere. People in the United States can appreciate music from Mexico and Spain and vice-versa. What makes music universal? I believe a part of it is the beat of each song. There are a lot of songs that have terrible lyrics, few lyrics, or no lyrics at all but are extremely catchy based on their beat. If you are tapping your foot to that Taylor Swift song, the song writer did their job. The beat of the drums and the rhythm created by other instruments pull us in.

Aside from the beat, one of the most important parts, at least to me, are the lyrics. Without powerful lyrics, the song is just noise. Sure, it might be interesting to listen to, but what exactly are you listening to? A song about women and their ability to be loyal? That doesn’t have a huge affect on me emotionally. I look for music to pull emotion out of me, make me feel something.

Music provides us with words where we feel there are none. It makes us feel things we fight and makes us cry when we try to remain strong. Music reminds us that we are not alone. There are others out there who feel just as lost as we do, or people who wish for love the same as we do. When we fail to see how things will get better, music tells us that is will. It provides all of us with a small escape from reality for a brief moment. We have a repeat button, so when we find that song that makes us feel strong, we can feel stronger and stronger with each listen. Music allows us to push forward.

There are many times when I am sad and I listen to sad songs simply because I want to continue to feel sad and I would like for an hour to accept my sadness. However, shortly after, I switch my gears and listen to every happy song in the world. Within a couple of minutes, I am jumping around the house and singing at the top of my lungs. Music does this. It has the ability to take us from one emotion to another in the strum of a guitar.

The next time you are listening to a song, think about why you chose it and what attracts you to it. You might come to find that you are listening to it just because it is there. You might realize that the song actually sucks. The lyrics make no sense, the drum beat is odd, or the singer is annoying. Or you might realize that the lyrics hold more of a story than you ever thought. You might cry for the first time since listening to it. You might be filled with joy or re-live hating your ex-boyfriend. Maybe you realize that you’ve been living life all wrong or that you’ve haven’t been paying attention to what YOU need in life. Whatever it is that draws you in, something does. And that — is music’s voice.