IF only for being an instant reliever
of stress, singing
already does a big service to mankind. I know of many people who
consider singing as a kind of maintenance medicine that keeps them
going even while the going gets rough.
But singing actually does a lot more than just to relieve
stress. It can be a wonderful form of prayer, of praising God and the
beauty of creation. It’s understandable why St. Augustine once said
that “he who sings prays twice.”
And in the Bible and now adapted in our liturgy, we repeat
often the words, “Sing a new song to the Lord,” and their many
variations. That’s simply because joy can hardly be better expressed
other than through singing.
I was happy to bump into a liturgical hymn recently that
said, “In heaven our joy will be to sing eternally.” I could not agree
to it more.
Of course, as stress reliever, singing has a way of
purifying the mind, heart and even the body of toxic elements, and of
stirring them to action in spite of tiredness. We may not have the
scientific explanation for that, but today people practically need no
convincing that singing has that power.
Nowadays, singing is becoming a popular way of resting and
relaxing. With the advent of the karaoke and many singing shows here
and abroad, this practice has become a staple in the department of
rest and recreation.
I suppose this is because singing provides a kind of
outlet for what is welling up in one’s mind and heart. The songs,
primarily chosen for their tune before their lyrics and other
considerations, usually reflect how the person is feeling or
considering in a given moment.
But the lyrics also play a good part in motivating people
to sing. They are ready-made poetic expressions of banal, common-place
experiences or impressions or state of mind and heart. They supply an
easy and beautiful language for the mind and heart to express
themselves.
But we have to be aware also of what I may consider as
emerging dangers involving singing and songs in general. Since they
are a good mirror of how people are in their mind and heart, they
somehow also expose the quality of culture a society or even the world
in general has. And the prospect is not all too good.
Just like the saying, “Tell me who your friends are and I
will tell you who you are,” we can also say, “Tell me how you sing and
what songs you sing, and I will tell you who you are.”
Indeed the style of singing can reveal to a certain extent
how a person is—his age, his temperament and character, his feelings
at the moment, the culture he is living, etc. And what we can observe
in this area is a big shift from the style of, say, 50 years ago.
Today’s style is definitely more sophisticated, with a lot
more of vocal gyrations and gymnastics, often interpreted as being
more nuanced and textured in expressing one’s feelings through the
songs.
That may be good and welcome to a certain extent, but it
somehow shows that today’s people, especially the young, are more
complex, if not more complicated. This can be very understandable
given the increasing amount of things people today are exposed to.
Also the style today seems to give more emphasis on
showmanship than on the substance of the song. It’s becoming more
concerned with external appearance, singing techniques, and ratings
from the audience.
Gone is the style of simplicity and direct, plain
expression of what and how one feels inside his heart. I would say the
style of former years was more sincere. It was more geared to make
listeners to meditate and to touch base with more fundamental
realities.
In fact, the songs today largely validate this
observation. If we closely examine the lyrics of many of the songs
today, they reveal a trend toward more worldliness and less soul and
spirit, more action and less meditation.
In fact, there’s a lot of noise and clutter. And even the
love songs and ballads, which are supposed to be the more serious
songs, appear contaminated with certain ideologies that speak more of
relativism, subjectivism, rationalism. God, religion, piety , etc.
seem like personas-non-grata.
The Bible actually warns us of this trend that show a
drifting away from God and a sinking in our own man-made world that
cannot help but be swallowed up by our miseries sooner or later. We
need to wake up and do something about this.
already does a big service to mankind. I know of many people who
consider singing as a kind of maintenance medicine that keeps them
going even while the going gets rough.
But singing actually does a lot more than just to relieve
stress. It can be a wonderful form of prayer, of praising God and the
beauty of creation. It’s understandable why St. Augustine once said
that “he who sings prays twice.”
And in the Bible and now adapted in our liturgy, we repeat
often the words, “Sing a new song to the Lord,” and their many
variations. That’s simply because joy can hardly be better expressed
other than through singing.
I was happy to bump into a liturgical hymn recently that
said, “In heaven our joy will be to sing eternally.” I could not agree
to it more.
Of course, as stress reliever, singing has a way of
purifying the mind, heart and even the body of toxic elements, and of
stirring them to action in spite of tiredness. We may not have the
scientific explanation for that, but today people practically need no
convincing that singing has that power.
Nowadays, singing is becoming a popular way of resting and
relaxing. With the advent of the karaoke and many singing shows here
and abroad, this practice has become a staple in the department of
rest and recreation.
I suppose this is because singing provides a kind of
outlet for what is welling up in one’s mind and heart. The songs,
primarily chosen for their tune before their lyrics and other
considerations, usually reflect how the person is feeling or
considering in a given moment.
But the lyrics also play a good part in motivating people
to sing. They are ready-made poetic expressions of banal, common-place
experiences or impressions or state of mind and heart. They supply an
easy and beautiful language for the mind and heart to express
themselves.
But we have to be aware also of what I may consider as
emerging dangers involving singing and songs in general. Since they
are a good mirror of how people are in their mind and heart, they
somehow also expose the quality of culture a society or even the world
in general has. And the prospect is not all too good.
Just like the saying, “Tell me who your friends are and I
will tell you who you are,” we can also say, “Tell me how you sing and
what songs you sing, and I will tell you who you are.”
Indeed the style of singing can reveal to a certain extent
how a person is—his age, his temperament and character, his feelings
at the moment, the culture he is living, etc. And what we can observe
in this area is a big shift from the style of, say, 50 years ago.
Today’s style is definitely more sophisticated, with a lot
more of vocal gyrations and gymnastics, often interpreted as being
more nuanced and textured in expressing one’s feelings through the
songs.
That may be good and welcome to a certain extent, but it
somehow shows that today’s people, especially the young, are more
complex, if not more complicated. This can be very understandable
given the increasing amount of things people today are exposed to.
Also the style today seems to give more emphasis on
showmanship than on the substance of the song. It’s becoming more
concerned with external appearance, singing techniques, and ratings
from the audience.
Gone is the style of simplicity and direct, plain
expression of what and how one feels inside his heart. I would say the
style of former years was more sincere. It was more geared to make
listeners to meditate and to touch base with more fundamental
realities.
In fact, the songs today largely validate this
observation. If we closely examine the lyrics of many of the songs
today, they reveal a trend toward more worldliness and less soul and
spirit, more action and less meditation.
In fact, there’s a lot of noise and clutter. And even the
love songs and ballads, which are supposed to be the more serious
songs, appear contaminated with certain ideologies that speak more of
relativism, subjectivism, rationalism. God, religion, piety , etc.
seem like personas-non-grata.
The Bible actually warns us of this trend that show a
drifting away from God and a sinking in our own man-made world that
cannot help but be swallowed up by our miseries sooner or later. We
need to wake up and do something about this.
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