Music: Your Portal to Escape the World

Nothing in this world escapes the law of duality: What benefits you may harm another, and what benefits them may harm you.

For whatever reason, I have this memory from primary school that remains imprinted in my mind. A girl asked me what music I listened to and what my favourite song was. When I replied that I don’t listen to music, nor could I even name a song, she and her friends erupted into screams of disbelief.

“What! You’re really saying you don’t listen to anything?!”

At the time, I just didn’t get it. What joy or practical benefit comes from listening to any type of music? Though 10-year-old me couldn’t name any songs, I was vaguely aware of the questionable lifestyles famous artists would lead, and considered my disinterest in music was probably a good thing.

But you don’t need to be a hedonist to enjoy music. Nowadays, almost everyone listens to it; it is, in fact, more strange to find someone without something plugged into their ears on the train than it is to find them just sitting there.

As it happens, I am currently writing this on the train now. I have just completed a walk up and down all the carriages: Out of the 100 or so people I passed, can you guess how many did not have headphones plugged in, were on their phone or laptop, or talking to someone else?

Three. And two of those three were asleep.

I don’t mention this in an attempt to groan at how “no one can just sit still anymore”. Rather, it is to suggest that, for many of us, if we’re not doing something else, we’ll probably fill in the silence by listening to some music.

If you’re travelling to someplace with nothing else to do, listening to some music is the instinctive port of call. I mean, what else are you going to do? Sit in silence?…

Why not? What will happen if you sit in silence? Will you feel bored? Unentertained?

If so, how exactly will listening to some music solve your problems? It’s not as though you’ll be actively doing anything different. You’ll be sat in your seat — in the exact same position — only now there’ll be some sounds playing into your ears.

Yet, the simple addition of these sounds invokes a magical effect. It does somehow change everything. You are now far less bored; maybe you’re even feeling pumped up.

I don’t think you realise just how crazy all this is.

Your view has not changed. Your health has not changed. You are not any wealthier. Yet, somehow, the simple act of listening to a song has transformed the reality you are experiencing.

How has this happened?

Think back to how things were before the music was playing. You were sat there, supposedly bored. But, what exactly does it mean to be bored? Generally speaking, it is the state of wanting more: The stimuli in your current environment don’t seem to be enough, so what do you look to do?

You opt to alter the environment that is making you feel bored. In this instance, you have chosen to start listening to some music.

So, what does this music do? Unlike a videogame or playing a football match, you aren’t doing anything physically different when you opt for this form of entertainment. One thing, however, has changed drastically.

The music is causing you to think and experience an entirely new set of thoughts.

You were bored just moments ago. But, now, the fast and aggressive lyrics of your favourite rap artist are elevating your heart rate. You start experiencing a flurry of thoughts, fictious scenarios, and a spectrum of emotions that simply weren’t present before those headphones came on.

Is it not incredible? A simple combination of words and musical instruments has found a way to transport you into an entirely different world.

Perhaps the song you’re listening to is talking about love and heartbreak; the creator of the song has no idea who you are or that you’re listening to them. But this matters not. The music connects to the neurons in your brain and causes you to spin through a storm of emotions as you contemplate the state of your romantic life.

Or perhaps the song you’re listening to doesn’t even have any lyrics. It’s a dark and sombre instrumental piece that causes you to reflect on some past struggle in your life. It prompts you to recall and reexperience unsavoury memories, but there’s something else in here for you…

Yes, some sadness is being invoked, but it morphs into a feeling of passion that tells you to keep charging forward. You grit your teeth and feel yourself hardening. Without saying a word, this music has allowed you to enter into a state of great intensity and motivation.

What is one to make of the powerful effects of music?

Should it be shunned in the name of respecting the sanctity of quietude and sitting with your thoughts? Alternatively, should we celebrate the fact that modern technology gives us this gift of instant stimulation, whether it be on a boring train journey or a long walk?

I think one would be misplaced to draw any firm conclusion at all.

That being said, one might note something about how music manipulates the ego and mind. By transporting us into a different world, it fills our heads with thoughts that may not serve us very well. This is because, as we listen to our tunes, we imagine a great number of things about our lives and who we are.

The music that motivates us to do something exceptional also inflates the ego. With the bass thumping in your ears, you picture yourself achieving some sort of grand result and all the pride and glory that comes with it. You subsequently find yourself bound to a contract you didn’t realise you signed.

In the words of Naval Ravikhant:

“Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”

The striving toward your goal loses its intrinsic joy and now you find yourself in a fit of desperation to achieve the result that you romanticised in your music daydreaming.

Now, this is not to imply that trying to achieve a goal necessarily incites anxiety. Rather, what is being said is this: The daydreaming and plans of action that come with listening to music often lead to ego-driven actions over pure ones. Again, there is nothing ‘bad’ about this: But many will find that those things that are pursued as a means to an end are far less satisfying than things where the means is the end (pure actions).

But the notion that music is the thing responsible for your ego-driven, and, ultimately, dissatisfying pursuits, is half-baked. The music didn’t force you to feel any particular way about anything — just as the existence of heroine doesn’t force you to consume it. Why, then, do you opt to use music as a tool to daydream? Why is sitting in silence not good enough?

The truth is that music, like so many others means of entertainment, acts as a way for you to escape.

The list of things for you to be unsettled about in your life is endless. So, why not? Why not plug in those headphones on the commute to work, or the walk to the shops? Why not, at least for a few minutes, escape the miserly reality of your life.

Further, why is escaping such a bad thing? Don’t we do this all the time through other means? When you meditate, are you not escaping your mind? When you’re immersed in a competitive sports match, are you not escaping your mind? Why, then, criticise music for its escapist qualities?

And, it’s not as though you need music to day dream or escape: You can sit on the train in silence and simulate comparable thoughts in your mind without the aid of a song. Indeed, whether you spend the day in silence or plugged into a playlist, it is possible to have a head filled with junk thoughts that will not serve you.

Ah, now we’ve gotten somewhere: It is not that there is anything intrinsically ‘bad’ about music; rather, it is just another thing that can add to the landfill of litter in your mind.

Both the monk and the rockstar can live an anxiety-ridden existence.

But is one better placed to conquer their mind than the other? Doesn’t abstinence from music better place you to have a quieter mind and experience the life you want?

Don’t believe anything I have to say. Run your own experiments. Tinker with the number of stimulations and distractions you have in your life and see where it takes you.

If you find that when you meditate all you can do is fantasise about your identity, that is your truth. And if you find that music lends you to a state of peace where there are no thoughts to unease you, that is your truth.

As stated in the beginning, nothing escapes the law of duality. What benefits you may harm another, and what benefits them may harm you.

What leads the ego of one person to go into overdrive may be the very thing that allows another them to escape it.

Make your own decisions. Examine yourself unabashedly.

Where has listening to music gotten you in your life?