5DM: 5th Dimension of Music

I can remember sitting in my English Literature class in college and listening to my lecturer give multiple lectures about one poem. Not multiple poems by a single poet; one poem. She picked a classic poem from poets like Edgar Allen Poe, Lord Byron, or John Milton; then spent the next few weeks breaking it down line by line, stanza by stanza. We not only learned what the poet wrote but when he wrote it, why he wrote it, and the underlying meaning. I actually enjoyed this but I wonder if we were correct in our analysis. Would it be any different if the poet actually gave a lecture about the poem himself?


The same can be done for songs. A lecture or a series of lectures could be done on songs by The Beatles or Bob Marley or better yet pick a song from your church hymnal. How much better if it were done by the author, lyricist, or composer. Well, that's exactly what I just decided to do. I'm going to take one of my songs or a verse from one of my songs and beak it down for you to read. I'm also going to get some other artists/writers/poets to do the same. I'm calling it the 5th Dimension of Music (or 5DM). Why that name? That's because I believe the first four dimensions are:


-Casual listening
-Intentional or active listening
-Watching (live or video)
-Reading the lyrics.


The 5th dimension is going beyond just reading the lyrics but also why they were written and the message the author intended his/her audiences to get out of it. Some songs are so well written that you are forced to enjoy them in 5 dimensions. As you would imagine, some will be more encouraging and inspiring; some just comical or simple. Some will be longer than others will. Hopefully none will be a waste of your time.