In that real world where people make and listen to music, in concert halls and suburban drawing rooms, in slum bedrooms and political rallies, in supermarkets and churches, in record stores and temples, fields and nightclubs, discos and palaces, stadiums and hotel elevators, it is performance that is central to the experience of music. There can be no music apart from performance, whether it’s live or on record.
Performance means everything to the song, people go through experiences in their own lives and make music meaningful to them. Music is simply sounds, but sounds are boring to people and can easily be ignored, so there is a lot more that is being said when music is being communicated.
A personal example, I am so heartbroken over the death of my grandfather that just happened last week. Music means everything to me, the lyrics of certain songs really resonate with me. I was here by Beyonce is a song with very powerful lyrics and those lyrics represent my Grandfather well. An example of lyrics in that song are "I just want them to know That I gave my all, did my best Brought someone some happiness Left this world a little better just because I was here" That represents him because he was a star football player at Holy Cross, served in National Guard, then did a great job raising 4 kids and brought happiness into many people's life.