“If music be the food of love—play on.”
Yes, this is a quote from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and yes, this famous line is a product of Duke Orsino, the comedy’s male lead wallowing in his despair after trying to court a woman who he barely knows… But the sentiment has its relevance. In an age where our musical industries fail new artists, where labels in particular fail to protect them, wringing their own talent dry and even in an age where we are seeing AI artists and contemporaries put work out there that lacks in humanity… We need our fuel.
He acknowledges music as something that fuels love, but really, this applies to any wave of strong emotion. We see how our immersion in it can help us process profound loss, and even strengthens our bonds according to many scholars; like those who contributed to the Cambridge University Press, arguing that music largely underpins aspects of our own social bonding with one another.
This framework and argument brings in frames that link psychology, anthropology, sociology… But also disciplines like biology. Musicality, the ability to produce and break fully perceive music, is embedded in our very genes. Social bonding drove our own musicality and our ability to produce, dating back to the period of the Hominins. Music quite literally can be the food of love is what this means. Musical genres and our production of it are products of changes to our social understanding of and bonding with each other; hence it being, according to these very same scholars, a system that coevolved with our understanding of social bonds. I personally have forged close bonds with the people in my life through music. Exchanging playlists with those I care about dearly is my love language and a great sign of respect on my end. I am so not normal about any of the songs I so adore.
Turning to music itself, it transcends language, culture, and arguably is a very construction of identity. We see its significance in being a vehicle of oral history for many cultures and even religions! Art, in any form, serves as a microcosm for our world and social landscapes. I turn to another article aiming to present music to fully understand culture and histories in South Asia, for example. India’s history is further enriched by songs called ragas and talas. The intention behind ragas is to “touch the mind.” They also carry religious undertones, as India in itself is defined by religious construction and its diversity. While ragas are primarily found in Hindu practices and are often carried by those religious undertones, we can find some of this classical medium in Sikhism, particularly Guru Granth Sahib, or the primary scripture in the religion. The existence of ragas span across various religions, even structurally being found in Qawwali tradition, which is prominent in Islamic communities in South Asia.
Given religious turmoil found in South Asia generally, the existence of music can serve as a uniting factor and proof that it is not a religious monolith. It is an accessible structure, representative of unity, and the ability to embrace an understanding of the universe. Music transcends conflict in this way.
On the opposite end of this spectrum, music has also historically mobilized protest and social change. I am not merely referring to the musicality behind protests and chanting, but I am also placing focus on music in its impact on the civil rights movement in America. Songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” both are recognized as anthems for the movements; a shared drive for racial equality in the states. The article linked above discusses that the music united people of all backgrounds, even introducing people to the significant movement.
I know Duke Orsino begs for the excess of music, even going as far as asking to play it; surfeiting—but he does acknowledge his need for it to process his heartbreak (if you read the play you know that did not quite last long). We need music, we need it to stay human. We need to platform our artists, support them, and support what musicality does for our connections. It is ingrained in our blood, as a human collective, we need music to construct our identity and preserve everything that came before us.