Sometime in the not-so-distant past a friend of mine and I, we’ll call him Bahntey for privacy reasons, were heading to a concert here in the Bay Area. Jamming out in my now deceased car, we got into a discourse about the many ways in which music has touched, shaped, and positively influenced our lives. It was at this time that “Bahntey” told me about this friend of his who has an actual AVERSION to music. Doesn’t like it, can’t stand the noise of it, any of it. This is the first time I have ever heard of such a thing. I’m normally a pretty open person when it comes to different peoples phobias, etc. (I have a few of my own), but music?? That seems so sad and crazy to me at the same time. Turns out, there is a name for such a thing- it’s called melophobia. Literally, the fear of music. Like a lot of things that are new to me, or that I haven’t really thought about before- I go into analyzation mode.
First and foremost, I think about all the ways in which music has touched me in my life. It has literally been one of the biggest shoulders (outside of my friends & family I am blessed with) I have leaned on- it has reached & understood what I was going through when I didn’t think anyone else could. Music has gotten me through break-ups, death, loss, yearning, you name it. On the flip-side, it has also been a big part of some of my happiest memories- dancing, weddings, singing like no one is listening, that moment of bonding with a new friend over similar music taste, karaoke with friends in Taco Bell parking lots, etc. Some of my earliest, happiest memories involve music. To be more precise, oldies but goodies. To be even more precise, the Beach Boys. Love them. It was the first CD that was ever bought for me, thanks Dad, and I couldn’t stop listening to it. To this day, God Only Knows is still one of my favs.
With all this being said, it occurred to me that one with “melophobia” hasn’t experienced how music can touch and inspire your life. They’ve missed out on the ways in which it can make your heart leap out of your chest, make you feel like you’ve been kicked in the gut, and most importantly, how it can carry you to the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum between sorrow and pure happiness. Some say a life without examining isn’t worth living (and I agree with that to a degree), but even more so, I think a life without music is even less worth living. For as Author Unknown said- music is what feelings sound like. And I sure like the sound of that.
