Q: i listen to plenty of instrumental songs made independently from any other media form. i was wondering if most of these songs actually serve the title of the song, which is usually where the idea/message comes from in my experience. then again, there's plenty of cases where the title/message/music dont really line up. could you elaborate more on your thoughts on instrumental vs lyrical music?
A: i had more examples of things that instrumental music attaches to. but for brevity i only mentioned 2, but yours would have been next on the list. for example: you could be listening to instrumental music produced and delivered as just music, (and not produced as a soundtrack to anything), then, it's likely that you are aware of the identity/persona of the artist, such as name, what instrument they play, and maybe they even have a nice photo of themself on the cover, perhaps with the instrument. as you listen, you are aware of the person, almost like the way a movie star would star in a movie. so in that sense, the artist's persona is what anchors the music. Or, in another case entirely, maybe you are using the music as background music, and in that case it might be part of a broader collection/library of music, maybe even in some context where it doesn't matter who the artist is. In this case, being background music, the anchor element will be whatever you are actually doing in real life. Or, even more enchanting, would be if someone else picked the background music for their own location, in which you are a guest. so if you are in a store and there's music there-- this can enrich and enchant your experience in that location, and, in turn, your experience in that location will help anchor the music. you may even think back on that situation and feel great adoration for that song, meanwhile actually your experience of being in that store will very much help to anchor those feelings. If music actually were not connected or anchored to anything or anyplace in any way, then technically you wouldn't even be able to recall where or when you heard it, and possibly would have no memory of it at all