Blog 7 Music: Aural Medicine

This is a picture from the first live music concert I went to in 1992. The artist was Joe Satriani, a guitar virtuoso who I used to play on repeat on my Aiwa tape deck and walkman. 

My dad worked for one of the big newspapers in Glasgow at the time, The Evening Times. He was a sub-editor for the paper by day and a theatre/cinema critic by night. Surviving on coffee and nicotine, he was the archetypal 80s journalist. I loved going to the press room main office, known as the caseroom. A huge sprawling landscape of computers, white boards, stationery cupboards and swivel chairs. 

We were one of the first households to have a fancy video recorder that could be set by timer. This was funded by the paper to allow my dad to record multiple TV programs over the course of a day and review them. These were the days of retrospective critique and it was immensely popular. I often had my orders to hit the red button at certain times in the evening and had to sift through the mountainous piles of VHS cassettes barring my way to Sony's finest creation to date.

One cold night in December I accompanied dad to the caseroom so he could type up the previous evening's helping of Naked Video, a popular Glaswegian comedy show starring the likes of Elaine C. Smith and Gregor Fisher who went onto stardom in the spin off Rab C. Nesbitt ( Based in my hometown of Govan). Spinning on a chair with a vending machine chicken soup in hand I watched my dad fire out another review in a cloud of Benson's and Hedges.

One of his friends Alistair Marshall came onto the floor. I really liked him. He had long hair swept back in a ponytail and wore long trenchcoats. He was one of the top music critics in the city at the time and there was something exceedingly cool about him. He had an extensive guitar collection and lived for rock music. We stuck up a conversation and it transpired he was heading to the Scottish Exhibition Centre to review a concert. My dad played it very cool, never lifted his eyes from the screen once! Alistair made for the door and I waved farewell. Suddenly he turns round and says " fancy coming mate?" 

I was stunned. Grabbed my coat and off we went to the gig.

As a 12 year old I was already obsessed with guitar and rock music. I was playing electric guitar daily and my room was plastered with posters of Nirvana, Guns n Roses, Iron Maiden, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. It started with watching Top Gun when I was a bit younger. The soundtrack from that movie did something to me that other forms of music had failed to before. Something visceral and a bit dangerous maybe. Anything with epic guitar riffs and some growling vocals and I was drawn to it. 

Not my room but a good effort indeed

I was a bit of a geek if I'm being honest. I wasn't cool and walking into Arena 1 at the SECC in my Puma tracksuit, bright blue jacket and Gola trainers I felt a tad conspicuous. As we approached the hall I could feel the floor vibrating with the powerful bass reverberations. Then I realised " That's Joe Satriani on stage. Totally star struck I followed Alistair into the crowd. The cool air conditioning took the sting off the blistering heat in the midst of the crowd. It was dark but the stage lights created a silhouette out of every person I came across, it was surprisingly easy to move through such a huge crowd. I couldn't hear a word Alistair was saying, all I could see was the stage lights flashing on his face wearing a Cheshire grin while nodding along with the music. 

All the awkwardness I had felt on walking in had vanished. Around me were fellow fans loving every moment and mesmerised by the genius on stage. Many of them like me were trying to find out how on earth he managed to string together runs of notes that defied physics. There was a certain facial expression that was being re-created around the arena. I am very familiar with it now.

I left that concert absolutely on cloud nine (funnily enough that's a Joe Satriani song). I was high as a kite when I eventually got home. As it was a school night I had to go straight to bed. Lying there with a good dose of tinnitus and hair smelling of projectile lager and smoke I eventually fell asleep about 3am.

Thus began a love affair with music. I'm listening to a band called "The dead daisies" as I write this. I drive to work with music on, stick my headphones in the second I am out of work and would rather listen to music than watch TV. It helps motivate me to exercise and makes everyday chores like hoovering, cooking and shopping pleasurable. What a gift!  

Music brings pleasure that is clear. It does so much more though doesn't it. It creates memories and makes them incredibly vivid. There are certain songs that I know will evoke strong emotions in me. They are inexorably tied to events and people in my life. If hear Joe Satriani today, I am transported back to my first concert and all the sensations that went with it come washing over me. Iron Maiden- I think of drinking cider in a snowstorm before the concert with my friend Michael. Whitesnake - Me and my sister, Colette rocking at the front of the crowd surrounded by lots of denim clad hairy people. 

It's not all concerts and rock though. There are some songs that just get you, even if you try to resist for the sake of being cool. Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion performing "The Prayer" was played at my dad's funeral. I know if I listen to it I will cry. The emotions I have experienced through that song have ranged from grief to nostalgia to ecstatic happiness that I shared my life with my family growing up.

Another song that gets the old grey mater churning is Don McLean's "Vincent". A poignant balled about Vincent Van Gogh and the fine line between inherently beautiful genius and painful suffering. Songs like this stir emotions deep inside us more acutely than real life at times I think. The right combination of lyrics and melody appears to awake the primordial areas of our brain like nothing else. Whether that is a feeling of rebellion, anger, sadness, joy or any of those emotions that we cannot easily subdue.

The power of music to enable self-reflection and self-exploration is greatly underestimated. In palliative care there is a recognition of the healing qualities of music therapy. This can take many forms. Solo or group music sessions, making playlists for loved ones, sourcing songs for those less accustomed to IT or even picking songs for a funeral.  I remember sitting with my mum a few days before she died listening to Abba. My brother and sister were there in the room. Mum suddenly starting singing along and smiling. When it was difficult to find words to say, Abba filled the void and gave us all a reprieve from the pain we were feeling individually. 

If I am admitting someone to a hospice and they voice that they enjoy music I now ask what that is. Not only that but is there any songs that are special for them. The offer of listening to that song alone or with family can have profound effects. That may be an out pouring of emotions previously held inside so it is important to let the individual play music on their own terms and in their own time. 

I will never forget when Daniel O'Donnell made a visit to one of the hospices I worked in. I didn't realise how popular this man was. A ward of very frail and unwell patients were transformed into a small crowd of adoring fans swaying and singing along for half and hour. If I could bottle that effect it would be a better treatment than any medication we have to offer. Daniel went on that evening to play a sold out arena in Glasgow and left a ward listening to his songs on their bedside radios.

 Music is a talking point, Music is a personal experience, Music is a group experience, Music breaks down barriers, Music causes revolution, Music makes us happy, Music makes us cry, Music keeps us company, Music makes us feel young again.

There is something magical about a group of notes and sounds that can arouse what is essentially human in us. Music really is a gift for humans and one of our most amazing creations. We take it for granted too often and can be critical of other peoples tastes. That's one of the most wonderful aspects of music, it means different things to different people. 

Over the past year I have rediscovered my love of music after a lull in listening. I have discovered whole new genres and whole new emotional outlets. The biggest positive to come out of the digital age for me is the ready access to music wherever I go. I now have a soundtrack to life. With such instant access to music from across the ages we potentially have a therapeutic tool for ourselves and others in the palm of our hands. 

So maybe it is worth spending more time with our friends, family and patients who are elderly or unwell to help them access this aural medicine. I for one am very grateful we are wired for sound.

If you want to see the healing power of music for yourself please check out the charity Rebecca Rocks. They raise money for children receiving palliative care which allows them to go see their favourite bands, artists and shows. The work they do is simply wonderful and their hoodies are ace.

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