Music For Tragic Times: Tuning In to Recovery

I was fortunate to be with family, though far from my home in Los Angeles, when tragedy struck last week. An old friend pulled me aside at the end of that long day when we were raw with terror. "Do you know what I did this morning, after I saw the news, to cope?" asked Bonnie. "I turned off the television and turned on my music." Bonnie sparked my first smile.

I write, lecture, train, and speak in the media about how people can use music in their daily lives for better performance and health. I can only speak softly at a time like this, but what would be the point of advising about the positive powers of music when the world made sense if I stopped when it didn't? Remembering that music has long served to bring hope, healing, and coping when the world's beauty is lost, I suggest that amid the numbing newscasts, the anxious conversations, the moments of pain and haze, music is available to you. Have you tried turning off the television for a minute to hear a song that can help you cry or help you stop? To help you meditate, mourn, heal, uplift -- to get to sleep or get to work.

You may have heard the news story about a national radio network that circulated a list of songs recommended not to play in the wake of this disaster, and the outraged response by many listeners both to the principle of censorship and the fact that some of the silenced songs were just those that might bring solace, such as John Lennon's "Imagine." Whatever the details of how the list was drawn up and interpreted, its existence and the reaction to it remind us that music not only retains but may even amplify its power in a moment like now. I encourage you to seek out sounds you need and screen out those you don't.

We all face different challenges and emotional landscapes, changing from noon to night and one day to the next. Here are a few ideas to spur your own thoughts about how a music time-out might help you during these days in different ways.

CLEANSING MUSICTo experience emotions in order to heal

- John Lennon, Imagine
- Aretha Franklin, Border Song (Holy Moses)
- Mozart, Requiem
- Sarah McLachlan, Angel or I Will Remember You
- Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry, Seven Seconds
- Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, Farther Along
- Shawn Mullins, Shimmer
- Patriotic songs

HEALING MUSICFor solace and relaxation

- Robert Schumann, The Poet Speaks
- Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny, Spiritual
- The Beatles, Let It Be
- U2, Grace
- Sadreddin Ozcimi, Perde Kaldirma (Sufi trance on Trance 1, Ellipsis Arts)
- Mahler, Adagietto (IV) from Symphony No. 5
- John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
- Thomas Mapfumo, Chamunorwa (What Are We Fighting For?)
- Van Morrison, Sense of Wonder
- Jane Siberry, Calling All Angels
- Durafly, Ubi Caritas
- Stan Getz, Early Autumn
- Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Long Road
- Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water

UPLIFTING MUSICTo kindle hope and spark a smile

- Frank Sinatra (Bonnie's Sept. 11 choice)
- Manu Chao, Proxima Estacion Esperanza (Next Station Hope)
- Beethoven, Ode to Joy (IV) from Symphony No. 9
- U2, Beautiful Day
- Willie Nelson, Rainbow Connection
- Michael Frante and Spearhead, Sometimes
- Enya, Paint the Sky with Stars
- Delibes, Flower Duet

When mourning a loved one, some people find comfort in choosing a particular song, CD, or artist and setting aside occasional private times to listen, remember, and feel.

As we all seek some sort of proactive response to these shocking events, remember the intimately personal and powerfully uniting force of the simple sound of music. There are always more resources than we see.

Copyright 2001 by Elizabeth Miles