Music in Literature (analytic)

Like all arts, music is used as expression of one’s true feelings. The feelings show through the lyrics and rhythm of the song. Also, music is used as an escape for those who want to shed some light on their lives that are filled with darkness for one reason or another. It is a way for artists to focus on something that makes them happy. When people is passionate about something, gaining knowledge of that certain thing or just engaging in it will bring joy to the person and ultimately help bring inner peace. It is a way to release negative feelings, especially if one is a very private person, writing music releases the negative energy without having to talk to someone else directly to get it out. Just being able to write down lyrics or play a song will help calm down a situation. In Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, Sonny uses his passion for jazz to release negative energy from himself. He escapes from the darkness of being African American by focusing on something that he loves. Sonny’s brother, the narrator, did not understand Sonny and his love for music. He just let Sonny do what he wanted without asking because it made him stay sane. When Sonny had to live with Isabel, the narrator’s girlfriend, Sonny became uneasy. The narrator reassured him, “They got a piano at Isabel’s. You can practice on it.” And then he said that sonny replied, “That’s right. I forgot that.” And “his face relaxed a little,”(124). The fact that Sonny even relaxed at all having an instrument or some form of music in his new home showed how music has affected his life. Even in times of struggle or nervousness, the music having an appearance, made things a little easier for Sonny. Also, by the end of the story, the narrator was taken to a blues concert with Sonny because Sonny really wanted him to go and the narrator wanted to be a good brother. At this concert the artists began to play the blues, their original pieces of the blues. The narrator began to realize, “the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph… it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness. And this tale, according to that face ( of Creole’s, the musician at the concert), that body, those strong hands on those strings, has another aspect to every country, and a new depth in every generation. Listen, Creole seemed to say, Listen,”(139). This quote really confronts the point that music is an ongoing phenomenon that brings hope and light to those who are filled with darkness. That darkness could be anything from emotional drama to physical violence. That light that is given from the music is the message that the song sends to its listeners. In this story, the music gives hope to the listeners that black triumph will happen and they will be free of prejudice and hate someday. The narrator also states that the music gets deeper with every generation because, the stories in these songs are being retold at a different level of complexity, along with new stories depending on the experiences people in a certain generation have in the recent society. The passionate people are the ones who use music as a tool to get away from society’s evils and focuses on releasing negative energies to create a fantastic song. Music is also used as a tool to retell stories and creatively bring history to the listeners as well as creating new history by writing songs for future generations.