The Importance of Music in Our Lives

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flights to the imagination and life to everything.”— Plato

As I sit in the reclining dental chair, waiting for my routine dental check-up to begin, I listen to the background sound of children’s music coming from the speakers.

The first thought that comes to mind is: why are they playing “The Wheels on the Bus” in a dental office on a weekday morning when nary a child is in sight?

I find it amusing and let the music transport me to another time and place when my children were little. They were obsessed with “The Wheels on the Bus” and the Mother Goose songs and rhymes.

Our Little Bosses

It is amazing how music has the power to stir up so many emotions in us. It can also evoke vivid memories from the past. Hearing a song even years later can take us back to that particular period in our lives.

When my children were little, we would repeatedly play the “Wheels on the Bus” and the Mother Goose audio cassettes in the car’s tape deck while I schlepped them off to their numerous after-school activities.

They never tired of listening to the same songs and rhymes day in and day out. If I attempted to play my music on the radio, they would burst into tears.

The incessant playing of the same songs continued throughout the toddler years. As they say, we have to pick our battles wisely.

When we purchased a minivan with a DVD player, they enjoyed watching DVDs instead and listened to it through headphones.

The adults were finally “allowed” by our little bosses to listen to our music in the front seat. We could hear the radio through the front speakers.

Peter Gabriel’s “Red Rain”

As I recall, my son was obsessed with Peter Gabriel’s “Red Rain” — which takes me back to my brother’s obsession with the UB 40 version of “Red Red Wine” — but I digress.

My husband grew up in the 1980s, so he would blare “Red Rain” on the stereo when my son was young, hence the Peter Gabriel obsession. It is peculiar how kids develop an addiction to songs.

My son, the clever little guy he was, even taught himself to stand on the step stool to turn on the stereo by himself at the age of two. I was dumbfounded the first time my son accomplished this unbelievable feat.

I casually asked him to turn on the music, and he toddled over to the stereo and switched it on. Tears sprang to my eyes when I realized that my baby fully understood what I was saying.

My Children and Music

As a teenager, my daughter was more into listening to music than my son. She took both piano and guitar lessons.

However, she decided not to continue with the lessons, as she did not have a natural inclination for instrumental music. She opted instead to pursue her passion for ballet for 12 years.

Curiously enough, my son was never much into listening to music. Be that as it may, he was passionate about playing musical instruments.

He learned how to play the guitar, the trumpet, and the tuba. He even played brass in the school band.

In addition, he took piano lessons for over 15 years of his life and excelled at it. He even played in a jazz club bimonthly while an engineering student in college.

I suppose repeatedly playing those cassette tapes accomplished some good after all.

Final Thoughts

Music will always play an essential role in our lives. It has the amazing ability to bring back so many past memories.

As we reminisce about the good times, “The Wheels on the Bus” go round and round.

This story originally appeared on Medium.