Impact of Music

         Music is a great way to make an impact on social change, political change, and many issues. It is a great way to voice an opinion to a large audience. Music can be a great way to bring people together such as a song that is very patriotic such as "The Star Spangled Banner", or a song that causes political change such as the song "This is America".  In the song the "The Star Spangled Banner", it represents the symbolic meaning of our flag surviving the bombings during the Revolutionary War, the symbol of our country, it is the symbol that represents all of us as a whole. Thats why it is so powerful for the audience, it brings us all together. There are may ways that music can impact us, even through the same exact song but played differently. Another version of "The Star Spangled Banner" that we heard in class was of the song played just by Guitar, and it creates a different impact on the audience. Their is no one singing the song so it forces the listener to run the words of the song through their brain, and creates a different impact on the audience, possibly a more powerful impact because it is much more quiet throughout.
        Another song that we listened to this week was the song "This is America" by Childish Gambino. Unlike the song "The Star Spangled Banner" which was a patriotic song, "This is America"  is a song that holds a message about Gun Control. This song has a strong impact on the subject of gun control. A strong part of the song that really impacts the listener, is when the Artist holds up his hands in the shape of gun and the music goes completely silent, he just stands their for 17 seconds straight in silence. That is powerful no matter what you know about the song, but the background of this part is the 17 seconds symbolizes the 17 people that were killed in Florida in a shooting. That is a very powerful part that really impacts their audience whether the listener knows the background or not. These are just some of the ways that music can impact political change, social change, and our society as a whole.