This summer, I went to camp as a counselor in training, called "LT's." I was there for four weeks, and music was a huge part of it. Every day, we would sing five songs in the morning for Alpha, five songs at night during Campfire, and a lot more throughout the day. They were a lot of silly songs, but still music.
The first week, we had a Wednesday night campfire that was very emotional for all of the LT's. Brian, the camp camera man and amazing singer/mandolin player, played a lot of slower songs that really hit home for me. Before this night, I was questioning whether I belonged there, and if that was what I wanted to be spending my summer doing. Listening to these songs and being at this campfire really made me feel like I had to stay. It moved me so much.
The 17 LT's really bonded this night around the campfire. It became a sort of tradition this night for us all to hang around after all the kids had left, and just sit up close in the fire ring. Brian hung out with us and sang more songs that weren't camp songs. There were two that had a major effect on the entire group.
The first one is "Eli the Barrow Boy." This song is very dark and depressing, but it made the entire group so happy to hear. We all fell in love with it. (You can find a link to this song here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQs3wNfArn4) Part of the reason I found it so amazing was the things Brian told us before he sang it, explaining why it has meaning to him. He told us that in school, he was studying effects of music on Alzheimer's and Dementia patients. He told us that very often, People with these brain diseases often get angry and upset toward everyone, partly because they couldn't remember anything, partly because they didn't remember how to be happy. He then explained that often when they hear their favorite song play, or a song that they grew up with, they will become very happy and cheery, no matter what the song is.
Another song that he played had a very strong effect on me personally. It also became one that we constantly asked for, because we all fell in love with this one as well. This song was "The Ballad of Love and Hate." (Linked here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pre7bINBps) This song tells a beautiful story about love, and it was just beautiful to hear. To me, it talks about unconditional love, and how no matter what happens, love and hate can coexist. It really made me think and was really comforting to me. I heard it four times, and each time I loved it even more comforting and loved it more. I can't really explain how or why it affected me so much, it just did. It made me feel more at home, and a little better about being gone for so long.
The effect that music can have on people is an amazing thing to me. It can lift spirits of any person, no matter what is going on, or how depressing the song can be. Music can help us bond with people that we don't feel very connected to, or make us feel at home no matter where we are or how foreign the song is to us at the time. It can have effects that we can't even explain. Music is like a universal language that we can all understand and share together.
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