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Ethan Lawrence

Professor Wilson

Writing 2

22 March 2017

WP3: Part 2: Reflection on Forgotten Sound

I translated a study conducted by Kiran Naik and Suil Pai titled, High frequency hearing

loss in students used to ear phone music: A randomized trial of 1,000 students (Naik and Pai).

This paper describes a comprehensive study meant to create awareness regarding prolonged

exposure to loud noise either through an MP3 or cell phone music (Naik and Pai). The primary

argument of this paper is that prolonged headphone use may cause hearing loss because of the

loud musics damage to the ear. The study was translated into a pop/rock song. Because of the

starkly contrasting tone and structure between an academic study and pop song, the translation

may have not had the same impact as the study. Regardless, it was effective in retaining the

general argument across genres and reaching the intended audience of the study. Though, to take

the argument from the study and present it in a song format I primarily needed to make the study

a narrative of some sorts that also serves as a cautionary tale; I needed to take an impersonal,

objective genre and turn it into a personal, largely subjective genre.

The genre that I translated the study into was a of pop/rock song because it allowed me to

reach the intended audience/subject of the original work. In using a pop song to carry across the

points of the study, I intended to reach the primary subjects of the study, 1,000 students (Naik

and Pai) from several universities. Students attending university tend to be in their early to late

twenties, the same general age group that also tends to listen to most current pop music. This is

effective because the subjects of the study and the individuals that the argument is most relevant
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to are people who listen to music through MP3 players or mobile devices. Although the study

does not specify a specific music used besides loud noise above 90 decibels (Naik and Pai), I

chose pop/rock because it appeals to a wide range of music listeners. More specifically this is

aimed at people generally any age from 15-30 years. This age range is important because

hearing loss is becoming increasingly more common amongst younger people (Naik and Pai),

the generation generally effected by the wide spread use of earbuds/headphones over the past

few decades.

It was necessary to make the study, which is impersonal and formal, into a narrative

format for the song, which tends to tell a story of some sorts that is cautionary. The protagonist in

the song is meant to represent the 1,000 students that study was conducted on. The subject of

the song needed to be singular opposed to a thousand people because a song does not relay data

collected from large quantities of people, but rather, tells a story, which does so by focusing on a

few key individuals. With one protagonist representing the 1,000 students, I needed to paint

the effects of headphones described in the study and have it work in context of the song.

The song was attempting to show the progression described in the study from having

hearing capabilities to later having music induced hearing loss with symptoms such as

distortionor threshold shifts because of using headphones at high volumes for long periods

of time (Naik and Pai). The song established the subjects tendency to listen to music at high

volumes for long periods by saying the noiseless days now turn to years and blaring plastic

clouds my ears. The days turning to years is meant correspond to the long periods

mentioned in the study and the high volumes are seen in the blaring plastic which clouds his

ears with sound. The lines year by year I played the pawn and a maxed-out volume hell

further establish the loud sound at long periods of time mentioned in the study.
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While lines in the verse tend to establish the music listening habits of the studys subjects,

the chorus shows that the buds have left permanent damage to the ears. The study mentions

symptoms of headphone induced hearing loss including distortion and threshold shifts (Naik

and Pai). These effects physicalize in that even without the headphones the subject of the song

finds he can no longer hear the voice of [his] heart beating. The sound of a heart beat is low

and subtle and it can be considered towards the threshold of human hearing. The threshold

shift is that the protagonist of the song can no longer hear quieter sounds like: a heart beating,

the rise and fall of voice, or the wind blow[ing]. Before the second chorus, one verse

mentions that the hefty fee collected left a world yelling undetected. The hefty fee collected

is understood to be his hearing capabilities and as a result he can no longer hear a world

yelling. I conclude the song with a verse that parallels the first verse in the sense that both deal

with the protagonist hearing his own heart beat; at the start, he can hear his own heart beat and at

the end he can no longer hear the voice of [his] heart beating. This is meant to establish the

cost of listening to loud music via headphones for a prolonged amount of time.

Although a song and study are extremely different mediums and while one is meant to

inform and the other is meant to entertain, I find that both can serve a general purpose of

prompting and promoting change in the public. There are several examples of songs addressing

current issues throughout history, some include Bob Dylans Blowin in the Wind, John

Lennons Imagine, or Buffalo Springfields For what its Worth. Songs have a unique way of

relaying a story or message to the listener in a meaningful and impactful manner. The artist can

make his point in a subtle or clever way, playing with words, structure, and instrumentation to

add another layer to the message or story. One can often experiment and is not limited to the

traditional conventions specific to a book, film, or comic when writing a song. I intended to
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show that music can tell a story and enlighten the listener in such a way that is memorable and

powerful.
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Works Cited

Naik, Kiran and Sunil Pai. High Frequency Hearing Loss in Students Used to Ear Phone Music:

A Randomized Trial of 1,000 Students. Indian Journal of Otology, vol. 20, no. 1, Jan.

2014, oo. 29-32.