The sound of words

   I enjoy a wide variety of music, including that of other countries, and especially music produced during the 1970's in Ethiopia, Senegal, music from 1930's in Greece, and am currently listening to a lot of the Romanian singer Maria Tanase. The music I enjoy allows me to glimpse into other cultures, but music from countries where english, my primary language, is not spoken, affords the great pleasure of hearing the sounds of the lyrics, rather than comprehending their meanings. The words take on a different form, as they become wholly musical, and evoke an emotional response based on how they are enunciated. They are all inflection, and that inflection is so moving to me. I have tried to listen to music that is sung in a language known to me with the same open ears, but my own understanding closes that door. 

   When I listen to a beautiful voice emphasizing and accenting english words, it often sounds forced to me, but when I hear a singer in another language doing this, I listen to the words as music, and the music comes heartfelt and sad. It seems that the sadness I feel inside is lost when I can describe it too well.

Maria Tanase