Music is good for our health, so why are musicians suffering so much?

[snoop1130]

Music is good for our health, so why are musicians suffering so much?

by Roisin O'Connor

 

Clockwise from top left: Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Stormzy and Maggie Rogers have all been open about mental health issues ( Getty )

 

“Music was my refuge,” the writer Maya Angelou once said. “I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

 

It’s a neat way of summing up the powerful impact music can have on our mental state. Indeed, its ability to soothe our troubled minds has been explored for centuries.

 

Greek physicians used instruments such as lyres and zithers to help heal their patients, while Aristotle believed that flute music could arouse strong emotions and “purify the soul”.

 

In Italy, celebrated castrato singer Farinelli was employed at the Spanish Court for 10 years, where he sang to King Philip V after his wife, Queen Elisabetta Farnese, suggested the musician’s voice might have the power to cure his depression.

 

Full Story: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/music-mental-health-industry-artists-depression-anxiety-lady-gaga-zayn-demi-lovato-a8732341.html

[anterian]

Because musicians become prima donnas, they become ''personalities'' with egos not just musicians. 

[kotsak]

Who are these in the OP photo? ????

[wgdanson]

31 minutes ago, anterian said:

Because musicians become prima donnas, they become ''personalities'' with egos not just musicians. 

I am certainly not a Prima Donna after 40 odd years on the road all over the world. And there's nothing with me, so my psychiatrist tells me. LOL

[HAKAPALITA]

i never found music relaxing after Mick Jagger screeched out my car radio,always feared they may find another one

[Emdog]

I play guitar (sometimes it qualifies as "music") nearly every day. I started playing again after a 20 year layoff in 98 when I was off work due to stress disability. Got guitar out of basement and found "oh, this doesn't hurt my head!". Been playing ever since. As Marley sang "When the music hits you, you feel no pain". Or at least less... Music is therapy, doesn't matter how well you play...

[JLCrab]

My take on this is that, no matter how talented you are, you are almost always reliant on other musicians let alone industry-type persons to make any impact.

 

Some people ask now why I only will do things musically via technology and YouTube that I can do by myself. I respond:

 

Because musicians suck.

[spidermike007]

As John Lennon once said, money does not make you happy. So, once these musicians reach a point in their career, where they have the money, fame, and adulation they were seeking, and they are still miserable, it is even harder for some of them, than the rest of us. We still have that golden calf we are seeking. They don't anymore. That may be one aspect of it. Another might be the fame. Personally, I think it must be miserable. I was recently in LA with a friend. We were in the parking lot of a diner, and some guy drove past us in a rather insane fashion. My friend said, hey that was Justin Bieber. We waited for him to get out of his Range Rover, then watched him scoot into the diner. There were about 40 paparazzi standing near the entrance, as he hustled inside. It looked miserable. Then I realized he was trying to avoid them when he entered the lot rather quickly. What an existence. Who would want that? That is the horrific flip side, of the fame that they were seeking in the first place.

 

 

[David Walden]

Singing and music for simple people is like participating in and playing in the low-level sport.  Singing with a group even out of tune (a bit only I hope) is fun and very good for you. it improves your outlook on life not to mention the social benefits..  Makes you happier. 

  Singing high profile is just hard work. 

[atyclb]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

As John Lennon once said, money does not make you happy. So, once these musicians reach a point in their career, where they have the money, fame, and adulation they were seeking, and they are still miserable, it is even harder for some of them, than the rest of us. We still have that golden calf we are seeking. They don't anymore. That may be one aspect of it. Another might be the fame. Personally, I think it must be miserable. I was recently in LA with a friend. We were in the parking lot of a diner, and some guy drove past us in a rather insane fashion. My friend said, hey that was Justin Bieber. We waited for him to get out of his Range Rover, then watched him scoot into the diner. There were about 40 paparazzi standing near the entrance, as he hustled inside. It looked miserable. Then I realized he was trying to avoid them when he entered the lot rather quickly. What an existence. Who would want that? That is the horrific flip side, of the fame that they were seeking in the first place.

 

 

 

[VBF]

I always had great admiration for this man John (Irish) Earle

Look at the bands he played with   https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-earle-mn0000087873/credits  and yet few people heard of him.

I saw him playing in London with the wonderful Ruthless Blues (oddly not mentioned in either of those links but included here) and I chatted with him at an Ian Dury gig.

 

He seemed quite happy to avoid the fame even if the fortune (?) was enjoyable.

[Krataiboy]

Smoke gets in your eyes, and white powder up your nose. Very unhealthy.

[Sparkling]

Music is very healthy, making music, singing, which means to produce the sound with and within your own body is doing lots of good things to you even if your aren´t the big voice. It´s the sound that moves and organizes all of the particles and energies in more or less harmony. All of this in details may go too far for an internet forum (it is described better and in more detail in the book SKYLINE DELUXE, but that is only available in german  and got those naughty parts about physical interaction as well...). Musicians, as everybody else, suffer from lots of things and maybe sometimes more than others because, like any true artist, they are more and oversensitive, as they have to create those feelings in themselves and others. That may make them more vulnerable. Yes, fame can be bad and obviously bring negative aspects in daily and personal life, But fame is not the music. The other stuff, powder, smoke and definitely mostly too much alcohol is a problem not only for musicians and artists. If they use it because they got traumas, are oversensitive, hit by fame or whatever reason, all of it still is not the music. They´d probably have even more problems without the music. Music is healthy and as you all know much more than that. I am a musician. Start your day with a tune.

www.empyreal.de

[moonlighter19]

I do think it has something to do with the music industry and the people's demand and unrealistic expectations that these musicians were put through. 

[VBF]

3 hours ago, moonlighter19 said:

I do think it has something to do with the music industry and the people's demand and unrealistic expectations that these musicians were put through. 

I quite agree - and many people, however talented and clever they might be are simply unprepared for the media onslaught especially those <expletive> paparazzi morons!

Privacy is a very valuable possession  which is why the modern internet and so-called "social" media needs to be approached with caution. For "celebrities" it can be positively dangerous.

[wgdanson]

4 hours ago, moonlighter19 said:

I do think it has something to do with the music industry and the people's demand and unrealistic expectations that these musicians were put through. 

My idol, Brian Wilson, being a true example of that. Thank God he's still alive (just about).

[HAKAPALITA]

On 1/22/2019 at 4:14 AM, HAKAPALITA said:

i never found music relaxing after Mick Jagger screeched out my car radio,always feared they may find another one

Basically i can stand the Gobby Geldoff / Jagger type Shit person, but many do. George Formby is my type. 

[roo860]

Basically i can stand the Gobby Geldoff / Jagger type Shit person, but many do. George Formby is my type. 

Good old George, great boxer and grill inventer.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[HAKAPALITA]

9 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

My idol, Brian Wilson, being a true example of that. Thank God he's still alive (just about).

And You, not many fun folks left,

[Sparkling]

On 1/25/2019 at 5:56 AM, moonlighter19 said:

I do think it has something to do with the music industry and the people's demand and unrealistic expectations that these musicians were put through. 

right - the industry is a business. it´s about profit. if you are a small act it is tough because there hardly is profit. if you are big you may get quite some money (even if you are cheated) but there is huge inhuman demand of personal energy. you will suffer from lack of sleep at the least for months and years as long as it goes. if you survive as a big deal you may start to enjoy. maybe. - the audience at least some part of it sees the idol not the human (even if they say they love you and want you to be happy) some of the audience is selfish. it´s okay, you get paid for feeding desires. yet it mostly is anonymous especially if you become big. very exhausting. Coulb be said more but i think you get the point.