Music is often described as transportive, but what do people mean by that? When you listen to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, while their music might be good, it doesn’t actually make you travel anywhere. Well, the loose definition attached to something being transportive is supposed to be a representation of the fact that music can be so powerful; it makes you feel like you’re somewhere else entirely, a different destination, a moment in time, despite the fact you haven’t physically moved anywhere.
There is some truth to this; however, when music makes you feel a certain way or makes it seem as though you’re in a different space and time, it’s a subjective experience. We attach specific memories to songs, such as where we were when we heard it or what happened when it played, and subsequently, hearing that song taps into and reactivates those memories.
Despite this being a relatively subjective experience, some artists make music to evoke specific emotions and take their listeners to certain places. You get this a lot in gospel music, where the whole point of the voice is supposed to connect singers and listeners closer to God.
The origin of this connection with a divine entity through music exists throughout most religious texts. The Bible, specifically Ezekiel 28:13, says, “The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” Essentially, God gave you musical ability, so people use musical ability to connect closer with God.
A lot of artists, even though they might not directly be religious musicians, incorporate soul and gospel sounds into what they make because of the universal euphoria which is often experienced listening to such music. George Clinton did this with his acclaimed hit, ‘Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)’, where he admitted he tried to use church-inspired chants to lift the song.
“The chants are like church grooves,” he said when talking about the song, “That get you in that state where you’re receptive to opening up your mind and coming up with positive things.”
Despite these chants giving way to more positive emotions and generally helping lift the song, Clinton added a word of warning. He believed that because the sonic power embedded within the track was so strong and people were so receptive to it, it could go as far as programming the listener.
“At the same time, you have to be careful that somebody doesn’t program you,” he said, “You have to do it consciously, knowing that you’re opening yourself up and people can program you when you open up like that. So, that’s why we do a lot of nonsensical stuff that’s just fun.”
While music is generally an individual experience, some sounds resonate universally. Clinton believes he may have taken things one step further with this track, not only creating a song that evokes a certain feeling when listened to but potentially leaves the listener vulnerable because of its hypnotic nature.
