Sanavieai Brazeal
Corona (Discussion)

On the first mention of Corona, I automatically pictured a cold beverage meant for partying and having a good time. Imagine my surprise to know that Corona in context is meant as a halo of light shining down to give peace. In this featured piece, we encounter a man and a little girl who find out that they can help each other. They gain peace and a sense of understanding of how to deal with their pain. Music helps them both to do that. It helps to cope with whatever is going on in their lives. Music has an undercurrent of subliminal messages that translate beauty, peace, and justice. It helps us release what burdens may hinder us from healing our innermost wounds.
The main characters in the reading face different aspects of pain and find their own way of handling it. Music gives them a window of escape to erase the pain at that moment. Buddy is in the hospital with an injury and the little girl wants to kill herself. They face the conflict of unburdening each other’s pain and to make it better. They both have heard a Bryan Faust song and the little girl gives a very descriptive thought of the song. I especially enjoyed when she said, “I think Faust’s music is so alive! But with life the way it should be. Not without pain, but with pain contained, ordered, given form and meaning, so that it’s almost all right again.” This made me realize that sometimes music can take us away when we need to release heavy labors.
My mother always said that I was a different type of child. I was always singing and dancing to all types of music. Growing up around my grandparents, I was able to hear different types of music and to broaden my horizons. While I attended school, I was picked on for listening to “White People” music. One day after school, I asked my mother why were people so mean and hateful. She told me that people fear the unknown and things that are different. My mother explained to me that people in society want to stay a certain way and constantly resist change. As I grew older, I understood what she was trying to tell me. She prepared me for ignorant people who believe that if you are a certain color, you must listen to one type of music. Well the world met its match with me! I love jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, reggae, opera, and sometimes a little rap.
Researchers Rentfrow and Gosling addressed music influence as very important in everyday lives. They stated that people experience music in everyday life giving aspect of all human cultures, and has been associated with particular emotion regulation and coping. They emphasize the fact that music, in any of its widely different forms and contents, can evoke powerful emotional reactions in people. (British Journal of Psychology May 2007)


Reference: Can traits explain how people use music in everyday life?
British Journal of Psychology 98.2 (May 2007) Magazine/ Journal
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Adrian Furnham