Native Americans from the drum band Yellow Hammer provide a beat on August 12th, 2005, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)
New research finds we can often identify a song’s intended purpose, even when it’s a product of a distant culture.
The notion that music speaks to all people, uniting us even as language divides us, has always seemed a bit too beautiful to be believed. Is it really likely that the expressive sounds of one civilization will convey the same meanings to another? Full story.