Heaven – how listening to music transports us

Here’s an improvised synthesizer track: “Heaven”. That’s where this piece came from. You’ll listen and decide where it goes.

Press play and then start to read.

Listening Takes Us Places

I have many friends who listen to music on Spotify or YouTube. My partner enjoys Pandora. One of my best friends uses Apple Music for listening to podcasts or music tracks. Whatever you use to listen to music, you are drawn to whatever works for you.

These platforms vary in how much they seem to care about the musicians (and other content providers) who distribute tracks on them. Each of their technologies has it’s smooth bits and rough edges. So it’s only the delivery of songs and symphonies that they have in common.

Music takes us places when we listen. Sometimes, it’s background noise. But other times, we close our eyes and follow where the melodies, rhythms, and harmonies lead us.

Go To Heaven

I occasionally put on one of the streaming “radio stations” that is based on my music. When one of my favorite mentors, influencers, or icons comes on this station, it makes me so happy: Ólafur Arnalds, Regina Spektor, Bobby McFerrin, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, or Keith Jarrett, just to name a few. Of course, this is just one sort of heaven in listening.

During everyday listening to music, the heavens to which we are transported are much more likely to be about the escape from whatever worries we may be carrying. This is when having music take us places is probably most wanted.

Listen – Best Addiction

A psychologist might tell us that this desire to escape is a form of addiction. When the addictive behavior is also hurting us in other ways — as with alcohol, smoking, drugs, and other forms of self-abuse — it’s really dangerous. At least for today, I’m going to say that if listening to music can be addictive, it’s one of the best addictions.