Music and Emotion: Part Two (The Composer)
- Randy Laist
- Sep 18
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 19
By Elias Lopez
Have you ever thought about your emotions and their relation to music? Would you consider music to be a key part of who you are? In this series of articles, we’ll be focusing on the connection between music and our emotions. This topic breaks down into separate stages in the musical process, including the composer or composers and their emotional states, the emotions felt on a public level by an audience, and the emotions felt on a personal level by individuals. All these levels connect to give music a power to help define our sense of self and who we are.
With any piece of art, there is an artist behind the art, and music is no exception. For every artist, there is a drive that motivates them.
The emotional state of a composer will affect what they write as well as how they write. We can take one song, PRIDE by Kendrick Lamar and deconstruct it from this perspective. On an emotional level, Kendrick talks about his pride, how he feels about the world, about mankind, and how he can feel like he’s above the rest, not needing to be humble for another. He also brings up what could be past emotions or experiences with lyrics such as
A perfect world, you probably live another 24
I can’t fake humble just 'cause your ass is insecure
I can't fake humble just 'cause your ass is insecure
According to drxzi (2024) in their analysis of the song, “Kendrick…brings back the idea of a perfect world you would probably live another 24. Kendrick is saying that survival is only guaranteed in a perfect world and in a perfect world you would only probably live another 24, likely reflecting on his times in Compton and the friends he lost along the way.” There are also references to his current pride, not wanting to fake being humble just because of other people’s insecurities or jealousy. These emotions and reflections are what makes PRIDE an important song in the DAMN album, along with the lyrical genius of Kendrick’s writing. This song provides a vivid example of how a composer’s emotions and experiences are an essential element of music.
But when a song expresses emotion, is the song’s emotion the same as that of the composer? With music’s ties to emotion, there needs to be an emotion to begin with, yet that emotion may not be currently felt by the composer while they are composing or ever have been felt at all. We can take grief for example. According to Malcom Budd (1989), “Present grief is not necessary for the composition of music which is expressive of grief, and a composer in the grip of grief is liable to compose nothing at all” (p. 21). An emotion need not be present in the moment when the composer writes a song, yet the song can still be expressive of that emotion, whether it’s sadness, despair, joy, fear, anger, internal conflict, betrayal, or desire. All of these are common themes in music, yet the composer doesn’t necessarily need to be in that current state of emotion to write about it. Some examples can be Spring Break 1899 by Murder by Death, a song of a dying drunk out in the cold, rotting away with his final thoughts, or Kiss Me, Son of God by They May Be Giants, a divine satire of a self-centered narcissist that craves and earns praise on a near divine level despite reaching the level of power through means of torture and betrayal, or on a grander level, Epic: The Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the tale of Odysseus in a musical version of The Odessey. Now, obviously the composers of these songs aren’t a dying drunk in the cold or a narcissist craving praise and worship despite his sins, and certainly not Odysseus, yet all of their songs clearly express the emotions conveyed in every song despite the composer not feeling them directly. Another emotion may be behind it though.
Take Epic: The Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans for example. While he may not be Odysseus, Rivera-Herrans’s level of passion and detail for this project is what allows the music to burst with feelings and emotion, the hidden details that add that little touch that brings it all together even if you don’t notice. On his TikTok, Rivera-Herrans posts behind-the-scenes videos documenting his entire journey and the attention to detail is absurd. This video, for example, is a great example of this attention to detail that may be overlooked. For context, the song playing is part of the vengeance saga, performed near end of Odysseus’s journey, and that small part titled “TIRESIAS motif” calls back to the moment when Odysseus had his future told to him by Tiresias, who foretold that he would no longer being the same man by the end of his journey and about the mutiny and betrayal he’ll face and still more to come. It’s such a small call-back, but it adds so much to the emotional impact of the way Odysseus’s story is presented in this musical. It’s that passion and love for this project that helps these other emotions, while not directly coming from the composer, seem so real.
Just as the notes are important to a song, so are the lyrics. With artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Black Moss, and Doechii in the hip-hop and rap scene, Laufey and Mitski in the pop/alternative indie scene, and countless others in their respective genres, the way they not only write but perform their lyrics are on another level. Bringing back Kendrick Lamar, earlier we mentioned his song PRIDE, and read into some of the lyrics. The way Kendrick writes his lyrics is very intriguing, filled with double or triple meanings, answering or referencing lyrics written just a few verses back, layers on top of layers; it’s filled with meaning and subject that can still have new takes that someone may not have thought before, suggesting meanings within meanings. Another lyrical artist and influencer would be Tyler the Creator and some of his albums; Flower Boy, IGOR, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale, CHROMOKOPIA. The range he has over genres, as well as being his own track and lyrical artist, means he has full creative control over what he does, which is a key factor for music.
Even wordless songs, the symphonies and melodies old and new, carry significance. How else would we get the inspiration of all these genres without the classics? Think of the countless serenades made for a single listener or the traditions like that of Da Pu in China or the deep-rooted performances by musicians in India with the sitar, the shenai, and the sarod. When making music, you can’t be hard and strict with it or it will never be interesting. It should come from a place of interest itself, from who you are when you write, what your thoughts and feelings are about a thing, and should inspire the ones who listen.
References
Budd, M. (1989). Music and the Expression of Emotion. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 23(3), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3332757
drxzi. (2024, July 8th) The Most Important Song on DAMN (PRIDE Analysis) [Video]. Youtube.
Hello, I’m Elias Lopez. I’m from Stratford, Connecticut, and I’m currently majoring in English at the University of Bridgeport. I plan to graduate in 2028 to go on to earn a degree in Civil Engineering. I’m a big fan of writing, especially fantasy and poetic pieces, as well having other hobbies such as roller skating, crocheting, drawing. Though I’m still beginning, I hope the work I do can eventually inspire others and show the joys that come with writing.
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