Angels, Music, and Heartbreak

I remember being in the middle of the seat in the middle row of a 16-passenger van. My Clemson University club baseball team and I were traveling out of town for our baseball game against another college. It was my freshman year and, let me add, I was no longer in that South Atlanta hip-hop culture. This would become the very first day I’d hear the song “Freebird” by Lynard Skynard. Someone started playing the song and immediately everyone on the bus was singing along – except for myself of course. I did not know any of the words because I never heard it. I remember being confused at their energetic passion for, what seemed to me, such a slow-paced, old song. And then….the infamous guitar solo happened and somehow my brain then clicked of the song’s awesomeness. The bus went wild! It’s funny, I forgot what school we drove to or even if we won the baseball game. But I will never forget that bus ride. 

All of us have times like this with music that resonate with us deeply. Whether it be the lyrics, melody, rhythm, or nostaliga that make certain songs special to us. Everyone living and who has every lived will agree with this truth – music uniquely brings a depth in our soul that cannot be brought about another way. As great as art and poetry are they are not as automatic as music. Music is a window into something else. Music takes us toward somewhere ethereal that we know was both beyond us and simultaneously with us all along. 

Imagine angels listening to music. It should not be a stretch because it is almost a certainty that they do just that, as it is certain that all things bring glory. They would not hear it with weak ears like us. No, no the angels hear the music in ways that we never could fully conceptualize in our humanly bodies. Angels live in the realm of transcendence. It may be that right now a troop of angels (if a group of angels can be called a troop) are singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow“ around the gates of heaven. I like to think that their favorite line in the song is,

“Somewhere over the rainbow, Skies are blue,

And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true…”

Heaven probably roars as that line is sang. The people in heaven who once struggled with poverty, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and abuse were once thinking there was never an escape for them; they now see that dreams are real.

As adults we have forgotten that dreams are real. The beauty of music here and now is that it gives our synapses a reminder of the truth of the transcendent. The truth of dreams. Nothing physical has explained our reaction to music. No matter how smart or sophisticated we may think we are, our souls cannot be fooled. At some deep level our souls recognize the triune union of lyrics, rhythm and melody as a symbol of a different type of transcendant trinity. Those in the heavenly realm hear and see it clearly.

There is a correlation between time and place (physical location or emotional place) with music. Some songs are appropriate while hiking in the mountains. Other songs are more appropriate while driving to the beach. Some music resonates with us as a toddler, while working out or going through heartbreak. They all echo an appropriate truth in those moments. In a way all these songs represent single keys on a massive piano. Each giving off their own uniquely wonderful sound. Sometimes one key truly hits us better than another depending on where we are. And vice versa. The angels and those in heaven can hear the entire symphony. What we joyfully hear in its partiality….the true depth of our songs are experienced continually in the spiritual realm. This explains why we will one day have the ability to sing whenever we want in heaven and not get tired.

Two songs I have listened to a lot lately are “People Get Ready” by the Impressions and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis (the cover version by Twenty One Pilots is also worth a serious listen). There are tons of emotions I get from these two songs. I believe I know why I have been playing these songs on literal repeat. But then again, maybe I do not. There was a psychological study finding that people whose favorite songs are their happy songs play them about 175 times. Conversely, people whose favorite songs are sad songs play them about 800 times. We know this to be true because there are several songs about having a crush on someone or about sex. Nevertheless, it is the songs about heartbreak that go deep into our souls. It is almost as if our souls are telling us, “That’s it. Feel this longing for the sublime because there is something better out there that will fill you.” Not only does our soul tell us this but so did King Solomon thousands of years ago. In Ecclesiastes 7 he says that it is better to go a funeral where we will cry than it is to go to a wedding where we will dance. Because it is at the funerals where we really contemplate our lives at a level that cannot be reached in the emotional state of happiness.

For this reason I fear that that Elvis song will soon grow a little old on me. What a shame, for I dearly love the song. On the other hand, sad/emotional songs that I personally feel eternally deeply to are “Rivers and Roads” by The Head And The Heart, “The Ballad Of Love And Hate” by The Avett Brothers, “All Falls Down” by Kanye, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep“, The Cinematic Orchestra’s “To Build A Home“, “Time Of Your Life” by Green Day, “Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad Paisley, “Cry Me A River” by JT, Ray Charles’ “Hard Times No One Knows“, Coldplay’s “Gravity“, and Ben Rector’s “The Men That Drive Me Places” are, to name a few of many, some of the sad/emotional songs that have racked up hundreds of listens from me and will likely continue to do so until the end of my days. Those will never grow old. Isn’t it odd how that happens?

Take a moment to reflect on the emotional songs you listen to very often. Think about what possibly draws you to those songs more than other songs. What matters most to you between lyrics, rhythm, and melody of songs? Does it vary depending on genre, time, or not at all? There is something in those songs that elevate you. That elevate us. There is a reason why Rolling Stones ranked Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album as #1 of all time.

Whether we are atheists or believers there is this feeling of longing for a state of perfect love, truth, and beauty. Music taps into the natural design and tries to correct the disarray of our failed creation and alleviate the oppression we feel by our own inadequacies. Although it cannot permanently mend things on its own, we feel that temporary alleviation in our bones in those few minutes of the songs. Maybe this is why philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said,

“Without music life would be a mistake.”

Soon a day will come when many of us will be able to dance with the angels. We will be able to hear music in it fullness like we never have before. For now, let’s practice. Find music that stirs your affection and soak yourselves in it. It is a gift and pleasure for us to do so.