Unique.  Angelic.  Powerful.  Calming.  Expressive.  One-of-a kind.  Mesmerizing.  Priceless. Unmatched.  Addictive.  Healing.  The kind of voice that comes along once in a lifetime.  I am nearly out of adjectives to describe The Voice of David Archuleta.  For two and a half years I have craved the pure sound of his voice ad infinitum.  Could there be a scientific explanation for this? Is it possible that his voice has a healing power?

It occurred to me that David’s voice might actually contain a quality similar to other sounds I find soothing like waves crashing at the beach, birds singing or the sound of rain falling.  When I hear his voice, very simply, I feel good.  His speaking voice has the same effect on me.  There is a magical quality in his voice that is hard to define and, for me, remains a mystery. The timbre of his voice makes my blood pressure go down and my endorphins begin to multiply.  But there’s more.

Music has always been a very large part of my life.  My favorite songs are like comfort food but this is different.  It’s personal.  David’s voice speaks directly to me and makes me feel happy to be alive.  It transports me to another hemisphere, eases any emotional pain and somehow makes me feel whole again.  David’s voice puts all the fragments of my hurting soul back together like a completed puzzle.  How he does this I don’t know but I do know that it’s part of his gift.  His voice is healing for me.

Aiming to create a balance in the body, hospitals use music to help patients heal.  The desired outcome is, of course, to promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, relieve muscle tension and to improve quality of life.  Music is played in the background in doctors and dentist’s offices to make people relax; in elevators, in malls, in gyms to put you in a good mood.  There is a theory that when we were babies, still in the womb, we were influenced by our mother’s heartbeat, the first calming sound.  And we never stop craving that safe environment.

Science is now documenting what mystics have known forever, that everything that exists does so with vibrations.  Humans and animals respond to certain tones and frequencies. Anything that heals us somehow alters our frequency resonance.  Our brains produce wave patterns that can be measured with instruments.  Our voices also produce wave patterns that show frequency information which relates to our physical and emotional health.

“Our voices tell our life stories, they are the very blueprint of our psyche, and therefore  how we use our voice can utterly change our lives.”

~~Stewart Pearce, “The Alchemy of Voice”

There are daily accounts by people who come forward to tell their stories of how the sound of  David’s voice has healed them.  Names have been removed for purposes of anonymity.

“Trust me…like you…David Archuleta has touched many of our lives..and I can’t tell you how many times his music has lifted my spirit. He is truly inspirational and surprises and brings enjoyment to my life every day.”

“…..just recently helped me through a really difficult time. It was like a balm on my soul when I really needed it. David’s voice fits perfectly with the lovely melody of the song and the combination delivers a wonderful calming and healing vibe.”

“…I took out my iPod and thinking about what I wanted her to hear of David for the first time, I had chosen ‘Somebody Out There‘. She took my ear buds, placed them in, and I started the song. I quietly prayed that she would be able to feel David’s words ease her pain. About half way into the song, I looked over and her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. She then covered her eyes and began to weep. Yikes! I was a little afraid that maybe this was something that I shouldn’t have done, yet I knew David’s music WAS affecting her. When the song finally finished, she removed the ear buds and looked over to me…She quietly said, ‘I don’t know how to thank you for letting me listen to him…listen to his song. …This David’s voice is like an angel and his words were words that I’ve needed to hear.’ We talked a little more, then I said here’s one more, and this one’s for you. This time I played ‘Angels‘ for her and although she began to shed tears again, this time she was smiling…I’d been given the chance to share ‘David and his music‘ and it HAD made a difference in someone’s life that day.”

“I have saved and lost many soldiers on my hospital beds in the E.R. in Baghdad, Iraq, 28 CSH. For the last six months I could not find peace in my heart after I left. I could not find sleep. I could not find reason. I found all of those things tonight as you sang, and I wept so hard. You have an amazing gift. I will take the risk and dream again. I will imagine. Thank you, David. You brought belief back to a grieving soldier M.D. Your voice is a healing balm.” ~~Iraqi soldier (ITunes commenter on David’s “Imagine” during American Idol Season 7)

In Chords of Strength , David confirms that he’s aware of music’s ability to heal…

“I personally love the type of music that has the ability to lift and heal and inspire.” ~~David Archuleta, p. 180

“As a singer I feel it quite often, and when I look out into the crowds, I can see when they feel it, too; it is a momentary and collective catharsis that packs a punch.” ~~David Archuleta p. 196

“It was one of those moments when music came in where words could not–when a melody could do for a person’s soul what a string of spoken sentences would never be able to do. Here was music stepping in, not as entertainment, but as genuine emotional help, an insight that would give meaning to the kind of singer I would always aspire to be.”~~David Archuleta p. 202

“Though I didn’t necessarily know what I was singing about, I knew exactly how that song made me feel–a raw sentiment that I saw reflected in the eyes of an elderly woman whose tears of appreciation slowly trickled down into her lap.  She was in a wheelchair, she could barely talk, but here she was very touched by the song, perhaps transported to a happier time in her life when all was well. She later told us that the song instantly rekindled lost memories of her late husband, and gave her an unexpected feeling of happiness that day…I could feel the melody soothe so many of this poor woman’s pains, and I could see the lyrics fill her heart with peace.” ~~David Archuleta pp. 197-198

“It was another one of those moments when the power of song, combined with the truth about human emotion, came together in a way that felt totally healing. Once again I understood that a certain song could strike enough feeling to inspire the kind of therapeutic force that we need when bad things happen.” ~~David Archuleta p. 200

…but does he realize how healing his own voice is?

David Archuleta and his voice will continue to touch people’s hearts and lives.  In Chords of Strength, he said “I sing because it makes people feel good, and that is the truth.”  Perhaps his destiny is to bring happiness and healing to the world with his voice.  Onstage, he dares to give it all away and he surrenders his heart and soul to the music.  His voice may be as soothing as ocean waves.  It may have the same frequency as the patter of rain falling on the ground.  It may even have the same vibration as that of a songbird.  But I won’t put it to the test because I don’t have to.  The proof is already out there.