Is It A Song?

    Tubular bells, more cow bell, jingle bells, carol of the the bells, bells rung on high.  But is it a song?  Would you consider an “iron bell calling the faithful to their knees, in a softly spoken magic spell”(Pink Floyd), a song?  Not their lyrics I quoted, but the iron bell of which they speak?

     Some churches or campuses have bell towers.  To the uninitiated their bells tolling might sound random, to others, it is heard as the song or songs played.  Bells ring in buildings of academia, to alert those inside that class has ended, begun or what have you.

      When a person that employs help and uses a bell as a form of summons or some other communication, as they designate, is it a song?  We all know bells can be instruments.  If for example, the bell that rings in a high school is one long note, does that make it a one noted song?  What constitutes a song?  Does a song need to be more than one note?

       This just brought to mind someone humming a song without music.  They are also humming without words.  But someone would say, “I recognize that song!”  If no one recognizes it, is it still a song?  One could heartily enthusiastic and speak of the time in some kind of numerical something, tempo, beat, harmony and possibly argue to the contrary of a school bell’s ringing not being a song.

       I would say they are songs of a sort.  These one noted ringings can spark a memory, a feeling or a call to action.  Albeit, the song lacks substance, but it does carry a message.  Do these various bells, with their specific sounds or meanings just have one of those corners where the things that no one cares about go?  Are their prevalence in everyday so prolific as to not be considered beyond the signal for which they are utilized?

        Most could gather that a church tower that has bells that ring out a song, and if those of that particular faith or congregation hear it, they may recognize it as a specific psalm, hymn or devotion.  Those, like myself who are uninitiated, might just think, “oh, pretty bell music.”  Still others might think, “those damn bells going off again.”

        So is music in the ear of the beholder?  If it is sound strung together, does that make it a song?  When I remember school bells I think of it as the “song of our particular hell.”  I am also the one that exclaims, “pretty bell music!”  The tolling of the iron bell would touch me just for it’s tone alone, if not it’s message.

I would also suggest that sleigh bells, though they may all be the same note, still make a sort of song.  It is a song beaten out by the cadence of the beast(s) pulling the sleigh.

      I, while pondering as I wrote, because I never plan or formulate my contributions, have figured it is music.  But, in the context of the beholden ear.  Music like all things, can be designated or undesignated.  I think any sound or even noise has the propensity to be a song.  I would suggest it’s a matter of opinion, of which anyone could debate or argue until the end of time.