Recently I had to decide on a term paper topic for my English class. There are many things that I would have liked to write about, but one thing stuck in my mind: music. Of course, as with most term papers, a thesis statement must be proved. It would be very difficult to prove that Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin rocked, in a thesis. So I instead broadened my thinking, and came across music therapy. While looking at the Berklee College of Music website, I came across music therapy as a major, but never gave it much thought. Just the name implies therapy through music, but in all actuality it's much, much more.

As I read in Newsweek Magazine, music therapy or just simply music, can help people of all ages with various diseases. One example given is of a young boy suffering from cerebral palsy (a disease affecting the brain and nervous system) who receives music therapy. The tempo and sounds of the music he's introduced to helps him coordinate his movements and gain balance. Another example is in stroke victims who have difficulty walking. Results from a test taken showed that stroke victims introduced to music showed signs of improvement when walking (Newsweek, Sep 21 1998, p.103). Music therapy has also been proven to improve feelings, or emotions. Tests show that other institutionalized stroke victims who were given music such as Mozart or Mendelssohn became less depressed, less anxious, and more sociable with the people around them, as opposed to other people in the same facility (Newsweek, Sep 21 1998, p103). There is even a new practice called music-thantology, which deals with ill and dying people would need music to feel relaxed and happy before they die. And don't forget that just fifteen minutes of listening to music a day can greatly lift your spirits and may even positively affect you physically.

Although numerous other tests have been preformed, the real mystery of how and why music affects us the way it does has not been solved. You may, or may not be asking why this ties into Hanson. How much do you, on average, listen to Hanson music? Does it make you happy? Do you smile, do you laugh? Or do you cry? Any of these things are probably directly related to the music you listen to, and the laughing and smiling and even crying is also some of the healthiest medicine. So the next time someone criticizes you because you like Hanson music, just remember how healthy you are because of it. And be glad that Hanson is healthy enough to give us that music.