Back home, in the good ‘ole greater Chicagoland area, there is a radio station that I have listened to my whole life. 93.1 FM, or ‘93XRT,’ is generally categorized as a rock station, yet that feels too little of a box to put it in. Instead, each of the radio’s hosts lovingly slogan-ed the station as the “home for the music lovers,” as if beckoning each of their listeners into the arms of a long and warm sonic hug.
I want to share a bit of home—yes, I consider a radio station home, with zero hesitation—on the last day of a sentimental month, though the sentiments span well beyond the constraint of the calendar. Music is timeless, and from that, one of the greatest unifiers, reaching and connecting across ages, languages, and beyond.
The birds, the whales, the wind: Earth is full of music, of lush melodies that many would dismiss as merely the inevitable sounds of nature. One might limit music to the songs on the radio or sounds played by instruments. One might even go much broader and technical, saying that music is a pleasing arrangement of different frequencies of waves. And waves of sound are all around us all the time; many we biologically cannot hear as humans.
Music, whether we realize it or not, is intrinsically tied to our existence.
A chorus of laughter, the drum of our heartbeats, the melodic stomp or rustle of footsteps, and the more traditional songs streaming via headphones as we carry ourselves through hour after hour, day after day.
Music is a language, one that doesn’t involve studying theory and instruments to know intimately. I witness people speak it every day, from my friends and family sending me songs they think I’d enjoy to people subconsciously tapping out the rhythm of their favorite tune on any nearby surface. Music spills out of us, it belts from mouths, bursts from our hearts.
To the music lovers and those who hear music all around, spring is around the corner, can you hear it?
Soul forever humming with appreciation,
Music Columnist & Staff Writer,
Mikayla Straube
