Empathy was born
I heard a story
that made my heart break, my mind
weep, soul understand.
The haiku above was inspired by the video shown below:
I have heard of slavery, racism but never fully felt as deeply the anger, pain or understood these emotions until I saw this video
The story of who and how the composer of the song Amazing Grace created it had a compelling effect on me. At first it was my interest on the musicology or how it was composed that I was enthralled with. Gaither pointed out that black keys on the keyboard are mostly used in Negro spirituals. And he proved it using songs including Amazing Grace
Impressed as I was with this anecdote, the account Gaither gave of who, where and how the song was created was the one that stirred my heart. As a result, I no longer just reading or listening to the words of stories or songs involving racism and struggles of those who were affected by them. I now felt them. Empathy was awakened in me by the story behind the song
Empathy was born
I heard a story
that made my heart break, my mind
weep, soul understand
During one of our life writers' group meeting, I think it was Win Konoff, who told the story of a famous actor who was a budding writer showing a piece he wrote to an equally famous celebrity. The latter said " your piece is impeccably written but I did not like it. It did not move me. It had no soul. It did not have any feelings”. Win Konoff pointed out in that meeting that to be a good writer what you write must come from your heart or the piece would just be a composition with perfect spelling and grammar".
The music and lyrics of Amazing Grace exposed the soul of the author of the song. He was able to tell in the song how he felt as he watched the slaves in the ship he was working pound with rhythm. . This effect on him in turn affects those who sing or listen to it. Their chest tightens with emotions as their voices soar as they sing it in church or concert hall or their home.
Music is powerful and the two posters below eloquently express this truth. But knowing the story behind the song makes listening to it even more compelling We now can more deeply feel what the authors felt for the people behind the song that inspired it (Read also this post)
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