After abstaining from coffee for a few weeks, yesterday’s caffeine craving was well overdue. So I got my sugary fix at Mapps over on West Bank and soon afterwards I knew it would be a good day. In addition to a wakeful buzz, though, I also experienced an enlightening moment. I was sitting down on plump leather couch cushions, reclined and relaxed, enjoying what was probably Putumayo Latin American Dance Party. There weren’t very many people at the coffee shop, so tuning into the background music was inevitable. Merry mandolins were trickling in synch with other acoustics against beating Conga and bongo drums. The vocalist sang away foreign verses that I couldn’t understand, but I hoped the serenade was chronicling some romantic fiasco.

In this midst, I contemplated more and more. Or could it be about dangerous coastal waters that sparkle in sunlight by day but claim lives by night? Maybe the man was surrounded by sand when he wrote the song – it had a beachy feel. Resonant patterns of the music guided me while intuition served my purpose with no words to help out.

It is easier to pay attention to lyrics instead of the multi-dimensional instrumental parts of music. Listening to and discerning between the different layers often takes more effort than we would be willing to dedicate. But when lyrics are incomprehensible, zooming out of a single tune is possible, and the piece can be heard more wholly. I used to listen to the Life Aquatic Soundtrack all the time – mainly to the tracks with the acoustic Portuguese David Bowie covers. That served a similar carefree purpose.

Seeing the complete picture in a song is important. Perception can be annoying – our brains don’t always pick out the most valuable senses to process. It’s pretty tough to take note of what is being sung and separate each instrumental voice at the same time, but with foreign lyrics, you realize how much more there is to vocalization than what the meanings imply. There is no need to sing along, only listen. Yes, just listen.