Sinéad O’Connor (1966 -2023) – Photo by Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CLN Editor Notes:

“Sinéad always spoke out against injustice. Sometimes she didn’t say something perfectly. Sometimes her message wasn’t always heard. But she never stopped trying. And I think that’s really the key takeaway: is that she never, ever, ever stopped trying. And, it’s not enough for us to now say that she was a brave warrior. We have to be brave warriors, and we have to have those conversations that she tried to spark from the very beginning of her career.” ~ Allyson McCabe, author of “Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters”

The passing of a public figure has never before moved me to tears, but I sobbed when I heard that Sinéad O’Connor had died at the age of 56. I didn’t really know a whole lot about her other than her amazing voice, her mega-hit song, her shaved head, and her appearance on Saturday Night Live in which she tore up a photo of the pope. Still, I had this powerful feeling in my heart that an absolutely incredible human being had died and left a huge void. So, I decided to take a deep dive and find out as much as I could about her, some of which I share below.

In my research, I discovered that from the very beginning of Sinéad’s career up until her final public appearance, this quote from Allyson McCabe was spot on: “Sinéad always spoke out against injustice.” When she was presented with the inaugural award for Classic Irish Album at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards in March of this year, Sinéad said: “I dedicate this to each and every member of Ireland’s refugee community… You’re very welcome in Ireland. I love you very much and I wish you happiness.” Much of the world treats refugees as undesirable problems. Not Sinéad. She knows that they deserve love and happiness – just like every other person on the planet.  See HERE.

And here’s a great example from early in Sinéad’s career in which she not only reveals a horrible injustice (the cause of the great famine in Ireland during the years 1845-1852), but she also offers a brilliant solution on how the Irish people can heal their collective trauma. (Note that the worst year of the period was 1847, known as “Black ’47” – which Sinéad refers to in her absolutely brilliant song). Watch and appreciate this amazing woman:

As a result, some are now calling Sinéad a prophet – and I totally agree. Here’s the best video on YouTube that I found about Sinéad’s life and why she mattered: “A True Prophet”: Why Sinéad O’Connor Risked Her Career to Call Out Catholic Church. The above quote by Allyson McCabe is taken from this video, which is hosted by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Rather than tell you about it, I highly suggest that you watch for yourself.

This video, which includes an interview with Una Mullally, a columnist for the Irish Times in Dublin, is also outstanding: Why Sinéad O’Connor’s Legacy Is Deeper Than Her Music. Una said:

“I think Sinéad O’Connor goes beyond music. As you say, she’s more of a cultural figure. She looms very large in the Irish psyche in terms of her activism, her politics, and her actions. And so, the loss is being felt really profoundly. It’s almost as though it’s a large political figure or even a spiritual figure who’s been lost. So, there have been vigils and gatherings, and people are extraordinarily upset. I don’t think I could really think of another person that this has happened within my lifetime.”

Sinéad’s most famous act of revealing injustice was when she took a mind-blowingly bold stance against child abuse in the Catholic Church on live television. On October 3, 1992, without regard to the impact on her career, she sang a cappella the song “War” (a song by Bob Marley that emphasizes social justice, racial equality, and global peace) live on SNL before millions of TV viewers.

But Sinéad didn’t sing “War” as it was written. Instead, she modified the song’s lyrics to serve as a protest against the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. She replaced mentions of “racism” with “child abuse” and “apartheid” with “in the Church. At the end of the song, Sinéad emphatically sang these lyrics that she added:

Children!
Children!
Fight!
We find it necessary.
We know we will win.
We have confidence in the victory of good over evil.

She then held up a photo of Pope John Paul II, tore it into pieces, and exclaimed: “Fight the real enemy!” (Watch HERE).

It took tremendous courage for Sinéad to do that. And she was widely ridiculed for it – by the press, celebs like Madonna and Joe Pesci, and of course, Catholic Church leaders – including Cardinal Bernard Law who was later exposed as being involved in the cover-up of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Boston (as depicted in the 2015 academy award winning film “Spotlight”). He resigned as Archbishop of Boston in 2002 due to the scandal.

Many members of the Catholic Church were outraged. In New York City, protesters transported a 30-ton steamroller to the Rockefeller Center and then proceeded to pulverize her cassette tapes.

Two weeks after her SNL performance, the audience attempted to boo Sinéad off the stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert. But she stood tall amidst the loud booing for over 2 minutes before finally waving off the musicians, signaling that she no longer was going to sing the Bob Dylan song that she was scheduled to sing.  Instead, she again sang the song “War” a cappella to drive home her message. Watch her incredible bravery HERE. Kris Kristofferson, who introduced and supported Sinéad at the concert with a hug and words of encouragement (“Don’t let the bastards get you down”), gave one of the best tributes to her with the release of his song Sister Sinéad“, which appeared on his 2009 album titled “Closer to the Bone.” Be sure to check it out. Here’s my favorite lyric:

It’s askin’ for trouble to stick out your neck
In terms of a target a big silhouette
But some candles flicker and some candles fade
And some burn as true as my sister Sinéad

History has proven that Sinéad’s criticisms of the church were spot on. Just hours after her death was announced, an American group named Catholics for Choice called her a prophetic heroine “unafraid to demand justice for victims of clerical sexual abuse, challenge patriarchy, and speak truth to power — even when her voice was a lonely one and it cost her dearly to do so.”

Be sure to read this outstanding article about, among other things, how Sinéad’s traumatic real-life experiences led to her courageous stance on the SNL stage and throughout her entire life: “Sinead O’Connor Condemned Church Abuse Early. America Didn’t Listen.”

Do yourself a favor and WATCH THIS absolutely wonderful 2-minute video that was posted in 2017, in which another famous Irish singer, Imelda May, describes the first time she met Sinéad and what an incredibly kind and sensitive soul Sinéad was. Imelda also noted that it was Sinéad’s idea for the two of them to sing a duet together, of which Imelda fondly recalled: “I think that’s probably one of the most heartfelt songs I’ve ever performed with somebody, for sure. The two of us, it’s just magic for me.” So now, you really must watch THIS fabulous duet that Imelda spoke about, titled “Every Night About This Time.”

THIS LIVE PERFORMANCE wonderfully captures the beauty and purity of Sinead’s voice as she sings a capella an incredibly beautiful song that she wrote titled “In This Heart” (which was featured on the hit series “Peaky Blinders” – see HERE). Also, be sure to listen to Sinéad’s most recently published recording HERE. After hearing Sinéad sing this hauntingly beautiful, 90-second theme song for Outlander titled “The Skye Boat Song,” a friend of mine observed: “She conveys so much emotion in her voice. Whatever the message, it’s always more than words if she sings it!”

To get a feeling for just how beloved Sinéad is in her home country, watch this 2-minute video titled “She was fierce in the best sort of way: Dubliners turn out to pay tribute to Sinéad O’Connor“. My favorite quote from the video (in addition to the one in the video’s title) is: “I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much for a stranger, but I think she held bits of generations of this nation in her heart. She was saying things before we could say them.”

Finally, watch THIS touching video clip from Sinéad’s funeral in the Irish town of Bray where thousands of adoring fans flocked to pay their respects. Several residents who had the good fortune to meet her are interviewed.

Thank you, Sinéad, for being a shining beacon of transformation and a heartfelt inspiration to all of us. May your music eternally resonate, uplifting us to stand up and voice our truths against injustice, and celebrate our true selves. This music video, in which you remind us to love ourselves, depicts how I will remember you – a radiant light, overflowing with love, joy, and wisdom:

RIP beautiful soul. I am really glad that you are reunited with your beloved son.

Sinéad O’Connor: A Troubled Soul With Immense Talent and Unbowed Spirit

Written by: Adam Behr, Newcastle University

Few artists have straddled the boundaries between acclaim, controversy and public affection as effectively as Sinéad O’Connor who died yesterday at the age of 56.

Her status as a household name belied a comparatively brief commercial peak in the early 1990s, thanks to her mesmerizing interpretation of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U. But she was never in any danger of being relegated to being a one-hit-wonder.

O’Connor’s life and career were characterized by irregularity and a sense of being at odds with her surroundings. Her childhood was fraught. After her parents separated when she was young, O’Connor lived mostly with her mother, who she claimed was abusive, and involved her in shoplifting and fraudulent charity collecting.

Truancy and crime led to a spell in the Catholic church-run Grianán Training Centre, a harsh rehabilitation centre associated with the infamous Magdalene Laundries. Although traumatic, the center provided her with an entry into music when a teacher asked her to sing at a wedding, which led to encounters with musicians who encouraged her to write lyrics and pursue the guitar.

Adversity infused her music with a punk spirit, an oppositional attitude that was writ large throughout the rest of her career. By the time her mother died in a car crash when O’Connor was 18 years old, the singer was well on her way. She had dropped out of school and formed a band called Ton Ton Macoute – with typically spiky attitude – a name derived from a mythical Haitian bogeyman, and also the dictator Papa Doc Duvalier’s feared secret police.

A distinctive template as a singer-songwriter

Having captured the attention of former U2 label boss Fachtna O’Ceallaigh, and collaborated with The Edge on a song for the film Captive, her solo career began in grand style with The Lion and the Cobra in 1987. A gold record in the UK, US, Canada and the Netherlands – featuring the Top 40 single Mandinka – it marked out her image and distinctive voice, clear and pure, but never demure.

Her trademark cropped hair and forthright bearing set her apart from prevailing female singer-songwriters. Shunning both overtly sexualized imagery and quirky hippie-chick vibes, O’Connor’s aesthetic was blunt and raw, although the clarity of her voice gave it commercial traction.

This reached a pinnacle on her next album, 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got – a multi-platinum worldwide number one that featured her best-known recording, Nothing Compares 2 U which she made completely her own. Propelled by a stark video in unflinching close-up, tears running down her face, it made her an international star. But O’Connor’s predilection for musical exploration, political confrontation and emotional honesty meant that her mainstream career quickly self-combusted.

Despite the success of her early recordings, she took a counter-intuitive turn on her next album, 1992’s Am I Not Your Girl?, which featured lush versions of jazz standards. While her voice was more than up to the task of interpreting the classics she had grown up with, the departure from her previous work saw a critical and commercial step down from the trailblazing success of her previous album. More significantly, she used her promotional activity in America to showcase her status as a protest singer rather than a pop star.

Given the centrality of her personal, and musical, voice to her career, it’s perhaps apt that two of her most notable live performances are both a cappella and confrontational. An appearance on TV show Saturday Night Live in October 1992 saw her drop the planned performances of standards from the album and replace them with a version of Bob Marley’s War. She wanted to re-tool it as a protest against child abuse in the Catholic church, and the cover-up that followed. The change of song was agreed by the show’s producers.

What they hadn’t planned on was for O’Connor to tear up a picture of the Pope at the denouement of the performance. The subsequent furor was swift and intense. O’Connor was vilified in the press, and the NBC network received over 4,000 complaints. Two weeks later, at a star-studded tribute to Bob Dylan, she was booed by the crowd and stopped the band to shout another rendition of War before leaving the stage in tears, comforted by Kris Kristofferson.

Watch Sinéad’s compassionate response when asked: “How were you treated when you said ‘Fight the real enemy’ and you ripped up the picture of the pope? How were you treated after?”:

Unbowed and iconic

Even if her career never quite acquired equilibrium, O’Connor the artist remained unbowed and exploratory. Taking lessons in Italian bel canto singing, her subsequent seven albums tacked across genres – reggae, hip-hop, rock, soul, and folk – placing her voice at the centre of original material and distinctive interpretations of an eclectic range of artists from Curtis Mayfield to Kurt Cobain.

Her later releases were stronger on critical acclaim than commercial clout, and her well-publicized mental health difficulties led to hiatuses in her music. Ever the controversialist, she continued to weigh in on points of principle, such as her critique of Miley Cyrus over the sexualized video for Wrecking Ball, and the subsequent public spat.

Despite these gaps, and the personal tragedies like her son’s suicide in 2022, O’Connor’s fierce adherence to her principles of self-expression saw her win considerable public affection. She was, of course, vindicated over her accusations of abuse in the Catholic church. But her uneven approach to public life – announcements of retirement followed by retractions, a spell as a “priest” followed by her conversion to Islam (she went by the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat from 2019) – did little to dim her appeal in the long term.

Ultimately despite her difficulties, or even because of them, she exemplified what it was to be an icon. Her visual distinctiveness, determination and refusal to meet the mainstream halfway mean that her instantly recognisable voice cut through the shifts and uncertainty of her personal life and public debate. In the end, nothing quite compares to her.

Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Source: Tom MacDonald

“Brainwashed” is an awesome music video by Tom MacDonald that brilliantly addresses the division that we are witnessing in our world. Watch more great videos by Tom MacDonald on his YouTube channel HERE.

Lyrics

Half the country fell asleep, but they scream, “Woke”
We’re distracted by vaccines and TV shows
Politics, celebrity, gossip, popular neat quotes
Black lives, white lives, which lives mean most?
We only dedicate one day to remember our fallen soldiers
The men and women who died young
But if you come out the closet as Caitlyn Jenner
You’re a hero and you get a whole pride month
The most dangerous pandemic’s propaganda from these clowns
Only mask that’s gonna save us is duct tape on they mouths
Don’t speak, we don’t need to defund police
Need to defund the media who lies through they teeth, like
Big pharma doesn’t cure you, dog
‘Cause every patient that gets cured is a customer lost
And big oil runs the world, the only wars that get fought
Are with the countries who have natural resources they want
Heard ’em claimin’ if a white man braids his hair
And likes rap, he’s appropriatin’ culture
But if a white man acts too white, he’s white trash
He’s a racist, he’s a bigot, he’s a monster

Let’s just have the conversation
Not every Liberal is dumb, not all Republicans are racist
The government wants everybody fighting with their neighbors
‘Cause they know that if we get along, we’ll probably go against ’em

They can’t stop us
‘Cause we’re ready to fight
Try to brainwash us
But we won’t let freedom die
The whole world’s brainwashed
Everybody pick a team, start a riot in the streets
The whole world’s brainwashed
It’s us against them, it ain’t you against me

How did monkeys become people and people turned into sheep?
They put fluoride in the water that’s keeping us all asleep
Claim they want what’s best for us, I find that hard to believe
‘Cause they been selling us cigarettes since we was 18
Fake news, fake woke, distract, and divide
You’re either right or you’re left or you’re black or you’re white
Big tech don’t need a microchip to hack in your life
‘Cause the phone inside your pocket is a trackin’ device
And I don’t know what I’m more sick of
Rappers or Joe Biden lookin’ like he ate a hundred Xanax for dinner
‘Cause censorin’ the president and kicking him off Twitter
Is a bigger threat to freedom than foreign ballistic missiles
You don’t trust the police or the government
But you want people givin’ up their right to own a firearm
Why would you be comfortable if police and the government
The only people on the planet with the right to buy a gun?
White privilege gettin’ amplified to reinforce the vision
It convinces white people that they’re favored by their skin
And black people gettin’ angry ’cause they’re told they’re treated different
So the conflict is between us and never with the system

Let’s just have the conversation
Not every Liberal is dumb, not all Republicans are racist
The government wants everybody fighting with their neighbors
‘Cause they know that if we get along, we’ll probably go against ’em

They can’t stop us
‘Cause we’re ready to fight
Try to brainwash us
But we won’t let freedom die
The whole world’s brainwashed
Everybody pick a team, start a riot in the streets
The whole world’s brainwashed
It’s us against them, it ain’t you against me

Step one, train the people only to consume
Step two, infiltrate adults with the news
Step three, indoctrinate the children through the schools
And the music and the apps on the phones that they use
Step four, separate the right from the left
Step five, separate the white from the black
Step six, separate the rich from the poor
Use religion and equality to separate ’em more
Step seven, fabricate a problem made of lies
Step eight, put it on the news every night
Step nine, when people start to fight and divide
Take control, this is called situational design

They can’t stop us
‘Cause we’re ready to fight
Try to brainwash us
But we won’t let freedom die
The whole world’s brainwashed
Everybody pick a team, start a riot in the streets
The whole world’s brainwashed
It’s us against them, it ain’t you against me

Below are 17 incredibly beautiful songs (plus 4 bonus songs) that are guaranteed to raise your vibration and put a smile on your face. I’ve listened to each of these amazing songs many, many times, and I return to them whenever I need a vibrational boost.

1. “You Raise Me Up” | Josh Groban with the African Children’s Choir

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2. “What a Wonderful World” | Okaïdi & Playing for Change

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3. “Canto Della Terra” (Earth’s Song) | Sarah Brightman with Alessandro Safina

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4. “When You Believe” | Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey

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5. “Somewhere over the Rainbow” | Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole

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6. “Celebration” (Kool and The Gang) | Playing For Change

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7. “Shower The People” | James Taylor

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8. “Peace Train” | Playing For Change with Yusuf / Cat Stevens

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9. “Annie’s Song” | John Denver

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10. “Bridge over Troubled Water” | Simon and Garfunkel

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11. “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” | Yusuf / Cat Stevens

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12. “Don’t Worry Be Happy” | Playing For Change

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13. “Peace” | Ajeet Kaur

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14. “United” | Playing For Change

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15. “Imagine” | Julian Lennon with Nuno Bettencourt

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16. “Lokah Samasta” | Deva Premal & Miten with Manose

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17. “Song for a Pure Heart” | Mei-lan Maurits

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Bonus Songs

18. “Give a Little Love” | Noah and the Whale

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19. “Dream Of The Blue Whale” | Anders Holte

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20. “All You Need Is Love” | The Beatles

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21. “It’s In Every One of Us” | David Pomeranz

Source: Playing For Change

Peace Train” – Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ timeless anthem of hope and unity – was originally released on the classic album ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ in 1971 and was Stevens’ first US Top 10 hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

This Song Around The World version features more than 25 musicians from 12 countries and unites Yusuf / Cat Stevens, singing and playing a beautiful white piano in a tranquil open air setting in Istanbul, Turkey, with musicians such as five time Grammy Award winning blues/americana artist Keb’ Mo’; Grammy nominated Senegalese artist Baaba Maal; Silkroad’s Rhiannon Giddens—also a Grammy Award winner; Ghassan Birumi playing the oud in Ramallah, Palestine; musicians from the Silkroad Ensemble in Rhinebeck, New York; Pat Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) and James “Hutch” Hutchinson (bass player with Bonnie Raitt) performing in Maui, Hawaii; and bringing together conflict regions with Tushar Lall playing the harmonium in Delhi, India, and Joshua Amjad playing the Kartaal in Karachi, Pakistan.

“Peace Train” Lyrics by Yusuf / Cat Stevens

Now I’ve been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun

Oh, I’ve been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be
Someday it’s going to come

‘Cause I’m on the edge of darkness
There ride the Peace Train
Oh, Peace Train take this country
Come take me home again

Now I’ve been smiling lately,
Thinkin’ about the good things to come
And I believe it could be,
Something good has begun

Oh Peace Train sounding louder
Glide on the Peace Train
Come on now Peace Train
Yes, Peace Train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the Peace Train
Come on now, Peace Train

Get your bags together,
Go bring your good friends, too
‘Cause it’s getting nearer,
It soon will be with you

Now come and join the living,
It’s not so far from you
And it’s getting nearer,
Soon it will all be true

Oh Peace Train sounding louder
Glide on the Peace Train
Come on now Peace Train
Peace Train

Now I’ve been crying lately,
Thinkin’ about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating,
Why can’t we live in bliss

‘Cause out on the edge of darkness,
There rides a Peace Train
Oh Peace Train take this country,
Come take me home again

Oh Peace Train sounding louder
Glide on the Peace Train
Come on now, Peace Train
Yes, Peace Train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the Peace Train
Come on, come on, come on
Yes, come on, peace train
Yes, it’s the peace train

Come on now, peace train
Oh, peace train

Source: Spirit Voyage

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” ~ Dalai Lama XIV

Watch this most beautiful music video with Ajeet Kaur and imagine peace in the world: Peace within me, peace surrounds me, peace from me, by thy grace let there be peace.

In this video, come with sacred chant artist Ajeet Kaur on a journey to India and chant along with her to the soundtrack of “Peace” from her album At the Temple Door featuring Todd Boston, Snatam Kaur, Sukhmani Kaur Rayat and Ram Dass Khalsa. Wash away your worries and find the peace within through this mantra to experience our connection to each other and the divine. Filmed on location in Rishikesh, India.

Lyrics

Peace within me

Peace surrounding me

Peace from me

By thy grace let there be peace

Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru (One creator created this creation. Truth is His Name. Great beyond description is His Infinite Wisdom)

Source: Mei Ian

Let’s unite our voices and our hearts in a prayer for peace. 🙏
Sending comfort and strength to all in need.

All my love,
~Mei-lan

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Solfeggio frequencies have been used in Gregorian chants for hundreds of years and the tones have been proven to heal the mind, body and soul healing. Solfeggio tones penetrate the subconscious deeply, awaken the soul’s potential, break unhealthy patterns and can repair the DNA. All of the Solfeggio frequencies correspond with a note on the musical scale system, a color and a chakra center. When listening to these tones over time, the mind, body and spirit slowly begin to recharge and heal themselves. It is quite possible to use these frequencies as a healing practice and for self-care.

The Sacred 6 Tones

UT – 396 Hz – Corresponds with the Root chakra and liberates one from guilt and fear. The color is red.

RE – 417 Hz: Corresponds with the Sacral chakra and helps undo situations and facilitates change. The color is orange.

MI – 528 Hz: Corresponds with the Solar Plexus and brings about transformation and miracles and repairs the DNA. The color is yellow.

FA – 639 Hz: Corresponds with the Heart Chakra and assists with connection/relationships. The color is green.

SOL – 741 Hz: Corresponds with the Throat chakra and solves problems and issues through communication and personal expression. The color is blue.

LA – 852 Hz: Corresponds to the Third Eye and Crown chakras and awakens intuition and returns everything to spiritual order. The color is indigo.

There are many different variations of the Solfeggio meditations that are available to listen to. Creating sacred space as you listen to these types of meditations will help you feel the benefits of these positive frequencies. Here is a sampling of these sacred and ancient tones 

Blessings and Light,

Laurie Barraco

Laurie Barraco

Laurie Barraco is a professional intuitive counselor, medium, author, recording artist, teacher and the owner of The Mystical Moon, a healing center in Fort Myers, Florida. Laurie offers readings, courses and healing products through The Mystical Moon Online Store. You can connect with her at The Mystical Moon Facebook Page.

Click here for articles written by Laurie

SOURCE: Mei-lan

Want to awaken to love? Just listen to this incredibly beautiful music by Mei-lan Maurits.

By Curtis Dean

Do you know that music can help you boost your immune system and help people recover from illness? That’s really interesting to know since most of us take music as our relaxation or therapy. 

Music is everywhere and we could hear it on radios, televisions, the start or end of the movie, both in private and public places. Music sets the mood up and almost every one of us can’t live without it.

And now that the world is stuck in a crisis which mandated everyone to stay at home, music gave us the company to kill the boredom as we stayed within our premises. 

This article will help you know how music can boost your immune system during coronavirus lockdown. Feel free to crank up the melodies and boom those beats, because the outcomes are in — music is good for you.

Music and Immune System

There are many benefits to listening to music. Music has healing power. For those of who’ve been in a bad break up, tend to cling and cry along with the depth of lyrics from Taylor Swift or so while some wanted to power up through a long run by jamming on Eminem’s quality music.

Music can relax the brokenhearted, encourage runners, and kickoff the grandest dance parties, but for our health and overall well-being, music could give us some significant scientific benefits. 

It has shown that listening to music improves memory functioning, escalate the rate of healing, develop your workouts, and more.

Additionally, scientists have revealed that if you listen to only 50 minutes of “inspiring” dance music, your antibody levels will strengthen suggestively. After being exposed to music, they also found that stress hormones can decline the immune system drop.

It seems to be quite actual to recover the quality of life of those suffering physical health problems and music therapy is used often to encourage mental and emotional health. Therefore, taking music lessons is highly recommended. 

How Music Can Boost Immune System

Happy dance music has a vital role in increasing immunity while relaxing music helps to decrease stress. Another essential thing to retain in mind is the listener’s taste in music. The music chosen by someone seems to have a bigger impact on his health.

The following are the important benefits of music to our immune system:

• Singing For An Hour Can Increase Levels Of Immune Proteins

Music can have extensive effects on the hormones cortisol and adrenaline – which frequently kick in for the period of nerve-wracking situations. However, when playing music or singing, the body experiences fewer of the indications in terms of the ‘fight or flight’ retort and leads to a decrease in adrenaline.

• Playing Musical Instruments Helped to Lower the Levels of Harmful Stress Hormones

A study shows that those who have the utmost amount of musical experience did best on tests of mental perception and show that it helps reduce the levels of harmful stress hormones. 

Compared to non-musicians, the individuals with an extraordinary degree of musical involvement had much higher totals on the cognitive tests because they tend to have a calmer condition, plus those related to visual and special memory, identification of objects and the brain’s aptitude to acclimatize to new information

• Listening to Music Can Reduces Stress and Eases Anxiety

Research has found that music has a unique link to our emotions and it can be used as an exceptionally effective stress management means.

Music can also have a relaxing effect on the mind just like listening to slow music to calm the body. Researchers at Stanford University originate that listening to music appears to be capable to change brain functioning to a similar degree as medication. 

It’s an easy stress reduction option since music is so widely available and inexpensive.

• It Helps You Heal

Music links with the automatic nervous system comprising the brain function, blood pressure, and heartbeat. It also connects to the limbic system such as feelings and emotions.

The bodily reaction follows suit when slow music is played, – the heart blow slows down and blood pressure descents. This results in the inhalation to slow, which helps discharge tension in the neck, shoulders, stomach, and back. 

Listening to slow or calming music on a steady basis can benefit our bodies to relax, which over time, means a smaller amount of pain to experience and faster recovery time.

A similar study with stroke patients Finnish researchers. They discovered that if stroke patients listened to music for a couple of hours a day, their verbal memory and attentive responsiveness improved better and they had a more optimistic mood than patients who did not listen to anything or who listened to acoustic books.

What Kind of Music Can Boost the Immune System?

Music is so voluntarily available, not many people understand the benefits that music can have on their lives, particularly when it comes to anxiety.

• Meditative Music For Relish 

Meditation is well-known for being one of the most prevalent and most active practices you can relish and participate in to lessen the levels of stress in your life and it is best paired up with meditative music. 

Meditation music is widely available, meaning you can meditate and find the present moment, notwithstanding where you are or what you’re doing.

• Dance Music For Activation

Something about music is enticing — chiefly upbeat music — that stimulates and actuates the body. Music very much has a way of augmenting the quality of life and can, in addition, promote recovery for both physical, emotional, and mental health.

Overall, turning up your tunes can also awake the effort you use during exercise, study, or even doing simple chores are home. 

So what are you waiting for during this lockdown boredom? Seize your earbuds and start jamming!

SOURCE: Mei-lan

Want to raise your vibration? Just listen to this incredibly beautiful music with just the incredible voice of the amazing Mei-lan Maurits.

Source: FiveTimesAugust

Listen to this beautiful song by Bradley James Skistimas about the Silent War we are all fighting right now. Bradley sang this song live at the  “Defeat the Mandates” protest.

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Lyrics: “Silent War”

Somebody’s selling a new religion
Somebody’s selling a lie
Somebody wants all the strife and division
That’s driving us out of our minds

They’re telling the world not to trust their own eyes
They’re telling the people they’re wrong
They’re keeping the truth for their power and gain
And taking whatever we’ve got

And some of you eat all the lies you’ve been fed
Some of you just go along
Training acceptance inside of your head
To give them whatever they want

You’re leaving your brothers and sisters behind
You’re told it’s the best thing to do
You’re shutting out friends ‘cause you’re told that’s what’s right
Now they win because all of us lose

And it’s so sad
Watching these times as they change
And it’s so bad
The battle’s been violent and strange
As they lock us indoors
In a prison of this silent war

Now someone is trying to sell you the cure
The same one who made the disease
And they’ll try to convince you and make you feel sure
But hey, there ain’t no guarantees

They covered your mouth and they’ve tied back your hands
They did it to all of the kids
And nobody knows all the damage that’s done
And won’t ask until the master permits

And it’s so sad
Watching these times as they change
And it’s so bad
The battle’s been violent and strange
We all shout behind doors
In a prison of this silent war

So take back your freedom
And fight for your life
Stand up before it’s all gone
Take back your freedom
And fight for your life
Stand up before it’s all gone

‘Cause it’s so sad
Watching these times as they change
And it’s so bad
The battle’s been violent and strange
We can’t let them take more
We can’t let them win this silent war

So take back what is yours
Do not let them win this silent war

Written & Performed by Bradley James Skistimas
Copyright 2021 Seven Places Music (ASCAP)
#FiveTimesAugust #SilentWar

An album of Australia’s most endangered birds and their calls has sold its way into the No.3 spot on national pop charts, beating Taylor Swift and ABBA in its flight path.

Songs of Disappearance is a 24-minute album of endangered birdcalls recorded by Australia’s best wildlife sound recordist, David Stewart. It sold over 2,000 copies and demonstrates the love of Australians who want to help their native species—with all proceeds going to the conservation of our feathered friends.

Its genesis came when Stephen Garnett, a conservation professor at Charles Darwin University, finished the 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds, a set of recommendations that found 1 in 6 native species are threatened with extinction. He had a conversation with his Ph.D. student Anthony Albrecht, a classical cellist, and one-half of a two-person multimedia company called the Bowerbird Collective.

Albrecht asked his advisor if there was anything Bowerbird Collective could do to make people aware of the action plan. That was when they discussed the idea of an album.

“I knew it was an ambitious thing to suggest and—I don’t know—Stephen’s a little bit crazy like me, and he said, let’s do this,” Albrecht tells NPR.

The other half of Bowerbird, the violinist Simone Slattery, arranged a musical collage of all 53 birds on the record, while the remaining tracks are each bird’s individual songs recorded by Stewart.

“We did it! Thanks to your incredible support we reached #3 in the ARIA charts, ahead of Taylor Swift, ABBA, Mariah Carey, and Michael Bublé,” the organizers wrote on their website, noting the Christmas-time bump given to the latter.

All proceeds of the album were donated to BirdLife Australia, which helped in production.

Some of the singing comes from birds that are Critically-Endangered, and one bird, the Night Parrot, wasn’t even known to science until 2013.

“When we last prepared an Australian bird action plan in 2010, we were not even sure Night Parrots and King Island Brown Thornbills existed – this CD has calls of both,” Professor Garnett said in a statement.

Each CD comes with a copy of the action plan, a small guide to each bird, and how to pick the sound of their calls out. The LP just became available internationally, so we all can enjoy the sounds and donate to the cause.

Source:Mei-lan

Want to raise your vibration? Just listen to this incredibly beautiful music with Mei-lan Maurits singing and playing crystal bowls.

Source: Kings Return Music

Want to raise your vibration? Watch this awesome, 4-minute video of four amazing men singing “Ave Maria” a cappella in a stairwell with their angelic voices.

Happy New Year!!!!

p.s. A huge thanks to John P. who shared this with me.

Source: Joni Mitchell

Just in time for Christmas, Joni Mitchell debuted the first official music video for “River,” her wistful contribution to the Christmas songbook, taken from her landmark 1971 album Blue. Animation by Skazka Studios Directed by Matvey Rezanov, in memory of his father Mikhail Rezanov

River Lyrics

It’s coming on Christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

But it don’t snow here
It stays pretty green
I’m going to make a lot of money
Then I’m going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river I could skate away on

I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Whoa I wish I had a river I could skate away on
I made my baby cry

He tried hard to help me
You know, he put me at ease
And he loved me so naughty
Made me weak in the knees
Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on

I’m so hard to handle
I’m selfish and I’m sad
Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby
That I ever had
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby say goodbye

It’s coming on Christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
Singing songs of joy and peace
I wish I had a river I could skate away on