I’ve recently been thinking about the power of music. It started with this incredible video, which like this one, just makes me smile uncontrollably and then by the end, I find it so moving that I’m close to tears. There is something about music and dance combined that is extremely powerful.
Last night I was at a minor league baseball game and in between innings they do all kinds of goofy games and contests. But at one point, maybe the eighth inning, they played YMCA by the Village People. The crowd rose as one, as if they were commanded, and began dancing and singing along, and forming the letters YMCA at the appropriate place in the chorus. It’s a silly song but incredibly catchy, of course. But for most of us, it was a moment of pure joy, moving to the music, singing along together.
This kind of joy would not have been possible a century ago. Something about the beat and the amplification and the crowd enjoying it together. It is part of the reason musicals are so infectious.
Speaking of amplification of a different kind, over 20,000,000 people have watched those two videos I link to int he first paragraph. If you have not seen them, join the crowd. What a world we live in.
