What are you saying?

I was driving around just a few minutes ago, rocking out to my latest favorite song, Benzin by Rammstein, when I realized something - the volume on my stereo was way too loud and the iTunes audio compression sucks. It just sounds like crap - the bass was pumped too high, and yet it sounded tinny. Beside all of the audio artifacts that were trying to suck the joy out of the listening experience, I thought of something! They were speaking German.

Look around and find someone who is really enjoying some music. How will you know that they enjoying it? They will move their bodies in a rhythmic manner. We can probably agree that when one hears a song that they really enjoy, it is hard to not move ones body to it. So there is a link between what sounds we hear and some kind of physical reactions. Music can make some people cry, laugh, feel empower, etc. So, obviously there is also an emotional aspect as well. But, wherein lies the connection?

I had always assumed that it was the music itself that had these impacts on humans. Then again, I was biased because I can not understand words when sung, so I always discounted the words themselves. In an impassioned speech, the words can motivate people both physically and mentally, so maybe I was wrong. Or maybe there was something else?

I think we would agree on all things up to this point. What I liked about the Benzin song, besides that it was released on a very important day in my life, is that this song would probably suck in any other language than German. German has certain sound characteristics, just like every language does. Operas tend to be in Italian because their words tend to end in sounds that can be stretched (oooooooooo, etc).

The connection between all of this: are some languages better at motivating people? Are certain languages better at just getting to the core of a human being? Not because of the words contained within the language itself, but because of the sounds that are used to make up the language. Just like certain musical sounds can cause certain feelings. And certain accents can cause someone to melt.

Does a guttural language create more warlike people? Ever heard Klingon? Sure, it is a made up language (or so they tell us...), but the people who made it chose those sounds, and it definitely has that feel to it. If Klingon was sing-songy, do you think it would really be the language of a warlike people?

Are people slaves to their native tongue? Is there a language of peace and calm? Could we invent a language that uses sounds that allow focus and concentration - one that could be used for the sciences? In what ways could we change the world if we just changed how we pronounce words?

The Edward