10 Facts About Music That You Might Have Wrong
How sure are you about your musical facts?
Everybody loves music, classical, regional, jazz, hip hop, rock, pop, etc. When you express your choice, you find that most of the people you talk to become instant critics, or experts, trying to convince you to listen to what they like or start the most fierce argument defending their choice.
Here are some hidden facts behind music history. Some might surprise you, and others you will say: Nah, I already knew that. But do you know them all?
For starters, do you know the name of the nine Greek goddesses that supposedly inspire Astronomy, Comedy, Dance, History, Tragedy, Epic Poetry, Love Poetry, and Sacred Poetry?
You can test your knowledge of their names on the bonus point at the end of the article, and if you already count them, there is one missing.
Today I’ll be rendering tribute to Euterpe, the muse of music, so let’s get started with some facts behind the music.
1 — Myths and facts about the Beatles. It seems they were together for ages, yet the Beatles lasted for only eight years, from 1962 to 1970. The first to split was Ringo after leaving a recording session on August 22, 1968, but the others convinced him to stay until their last performance together, two years later.
According to Rolling Stones Magazine’s list of the 50 greatest songs of all time, we can find eight Beatles’ songs: Help, A Day in the Life, In my Life, Let It Be, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Yesterday, and Hey Jude. If you wonder why the number two song of all time, Imagine is not among them, it’s because this is not a Beatles’ song. John Lennon composed it after they broke up.
2 — Music from outer space. There is only one album recorded in outer space. In 2015, while he was in the International Space Station, Canadian Astronaut and musician Chris Hadfield recorded eleven original songs from his album Space Sessions: Songs for a Tin Can.
He is the first Canadian to walk in space, the first person to record and post a music video from space, and the first person to record an album while in orbit, and he holds a Guinness Record for that.
3 — Jingle Bells is not a Christmas song. You might relate this song with Christmas, but when James Lord Pierpont wrote and published this song in 1857, Pierpont thought of it for people singing it during Thanksgiving, and the original title was “One Horse Open Sleigh.” There is a debate whether he wrote it in Medford, Massachusetts, or in Savannah, Georgia, and both places have a commemorative plaque.
It doesn’t matter where he composed this beloved sing-along. Interestingly, in 1859 when they reprinted the song, they changed the name to “Jingle Bells.”
4 — Beyoncé made famous a country song. You point your finger to the left when you listen to Beyoncé’s popular song “Irreplaceable.” Still, this song Ne-Yo composed it as a country song, with the intention that Faith Hill or Shania Twain record it. But when the pop star heard it, she loved the song, making it her own.
It was Pop R&B song number one in several Billboard charts in 2006. At the 2007 American Music Awards, Beyoncé sang it together with the country music duet Sugarland.
5 — If you think digital is the only way to listen to music, you might be wrong. We love to listen to music on our digital devices, whether we buy it from an App, or listen using a streaming service.
That is why subscription revenues were $10 billion in 2020. Download albums only had a profit of $316 million, and vinyl sales almost doubled that amount, with a whopping $619 million in the same time.
Now it might be a perfect time to look at your parent’s attic and grab that record player and some vinyl albums hidden somewhere.
6 — The most iconic electric guitar inventor couldn’t play guitar. The most expensive guitar ever auctioned was Pink Floyd’s guitarist David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster ($3.9 million).
But the fun fact is that Bob Dylan’s 1964, Jimi Hendrix’s 1968, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami guitar signed by artists like Clapton, Jagger, Page, and David Gilmour, have two things in common besides being among the ten most expensive guitars ever sold. They all are Fender Stratocaster guitars, and second, Leo Fender, the inventor, didn’t play guitar but played saxophone.
7 — You are most likely to drink more while in a rock concert. According to studies by scientists at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France, loud music stimulates drinking. They found out that high sound levels increase alcohol consumption in less time. Maybe that is why music is so loud at bars, concerts, discos, and clubs. What do you think?
8 — Loud music affects wildlife and not only the way you think. Hundreds of studies appear each year about how music affects plants and animals, but did you know that studies in Australia showed termites select the wood they eat depending on the vibration emitted by the wood? They prefer wood with frequencies between 600Hz — 3kHz, which is in the middle of the 60Hz — 8kHz of rock music.
That is why they seem to eat more with rock music. Also, they found out that during this frenzy banquet, they ate more and abandoned social responsibilities like taking care of the queen.
9 — Do you know the name of the oldest song? During an excavation in Ugarit, Syria, in the 1950s, archeologists found 29 musical texts.
These texts written in cuneiform characters on clay tablets were almost destroyed, but only text H6 was good enough to interpret.
Known among historians as the Hurrian Hymn №6, they consider this one to be the world’s oldest song, over 3,400 years old, dedicated to the ancient goddess Nikkai.
10 — Who writes the songs? Barry Manilow is famous for singing “I Write the Songs,” but did you know he did not write the song and was not the first to record it?
The author Bruce Johnston wrote the song in 1975, and Captain & Tennille recorded it for the first time, appearing in their Love Will Keep Us Together album. That same year David Cassidy without the Partridge Family, recorded a single. A few months later Manilow, released his version in the Trying to Get the Feeling album. This time the song made it to the Billboard music chart in 1976.
Bonus Question — Do you know the name of the nine Greek Muses?
I’ll start with the one I’ve already written about, Euterpe, muse of music. The other eight in alphabetical order are:
- Calliope, muse of epic poetry.
- Clio, muse of history.
- Erato, muse of love poetry.
- Melpomene, muse of tragedy.
- Polyhymnia, muse of sacred poetry.
- Terpsichore, muse of dance.
- Thalia, muse of comedy.
- Urania, muse of astronomy
After reading this brief test, how did your music factometer rate, was it 100% correct, or did you find an exciting piece of information you might use the next time you are with your friends?