While the guitar gently weeps

Ever thought how The Beatles' iconic song While my guitar gently weeps has been providing profound emotional release and closure by acting as a sonic mirror for grief and unspoken feelings since November 1968? Harrison’s words, voice and pure magnetism transformed personal and collective sorrow into art, validating our pain while gently guiding us toward acceptance. The warm sound of strings and beats, along with the melancholic voice, the song shares the weight of our grief. Such is the power of music and expressive art, curbing emotion sickness.

In Bangladesh, clinical depression, melancholy, and despondency have historically been deeply tabooed. Rather than diagnosing the cause, receiving empathy, patients were frequently demonized, bullied, and branded as abnormal. For men, this stigma was heavily reinforced by toxic masculinity, where emotional suffering was dismissed as a lack of manhood. Due to a severe shortage of mental health resources, many struggled in silence, often leading to suicide. Tragically, instead of addressing the root systemic issues, families and society would quickly write these individuals off as simply having "mental disorders."

Since relocating to Australia, I’ve come to see that cinematic therapy sessions aren't the sole way to face our biggest problems head-on. And the works of Imtiaz A Chowdhury and Ziyan Hossain are testament that music and art therapy have completely transformed and can massively help how we process loss, moving the experience away from rigid, conventional stages towards creative, spiritual, and holistic healing. They both were established musicians in the Bangladesh underground and indie music fraternity. Imtiaz fronted the bands Kral, Kronic and a guest member of Aurthohin, while, Ziyan was the creative and animated guitar man in the influential alternative rock band Sellout.

When words fall short, imaginative expressions offer a secure space to channel the complex and often conflicting feelings of loss. Below is a look at how these modern spiritual and therapeutic practices guide individuals toward healing and rebuilding their lives:

Music as a path through grief

Music offers a profound, philosophical and neurological passage to our emotions and memories, by bypassing our logical minds to connect directly with our emotions and memories. It then serves as a powerful tool for emotional and spiritual healing. Song writing and lyrics writing are avenues to express specific memories or feelings through words and melodies helping individuals process their unique narrative of loss.

Sound therapy helps individuals process grief through curated playlists that mirror their emotional journey—ranging from deep crying and anger to hope and rebirth. Complementing this, sound baths use singing bowls, gongs, and chimes to calm the nervous system. This vibrational healing releases the physical trauma and tension that grief often traps within the body. And while Instrument Improvisation like playing percussion, strings or synthesizers allows for immediate physical release of emotional weight, writing original lyrics and melodies help externalize complex feelings of loss. Receptive Listening and Guided Relaxation offers listening to familiar or ambient music paired with breathing techniques which slows the mind and eases depressive moods.

What music therapy looks like

Speaking to Bangladeshi-Australian musician Imtiaz, who founded Torongo Music TherapyPlus in Sydney, Australia, he said "We are a group of independent, licensed therapists and practitioners who have come together to provide our services throughout the community. Each of our therapists operates their own independent practice, with the flexibility to provide services either at their own private location, in the client’s home, or virtually through telehealth platforms."

Torongo embarked on its journey in 2020, guided by a simple vision, to make the world of therapeutic care accessible to all, on a global scale. It commenced as a modest project, with a primary focus on producing educational content and resources, primarily cantered around the world of music therapy. The mission was to demystify these potent healing techniques, rendering them comprehensible and usable for individuals of all backgrounds.

It’s definitely not easy to become a music therapist. Imtiaz had to complete a two-year Master of Creative Music Therapy along with clinical placements in various health facilities to qualify as a Registered Music Therapist.

He continued, “Music can be therapeutic in itself. It can comfort us, help us express a feeling, or make us feel less alone. Music therapy takes that natural connection further: a qualified therapist uses music-based intervention strategies to support a person’s emotional, mental, physical or social wellbeing. When someone is grieving, finding words can be difficult. Sometimes there is so much to say that they don't know where to begin. Music gives us another way to start that conversation. We might listen to a song that reminds them of someone they have lost, explore what its lyrics mean to them, or write something that expresses what they wish they could say. Song writing is one way music therapists help people communicate feelings and messages to those close to them”.

One of the biggest hurdles of this capitalistic world is depression. When asked how music therapy can aid an ailing mind, Imtiaz said: grief should not be approached as something we need to erase. The intention would be to create space for the person’s feelings and memories, without making them feel they have to ‘move on’ or feel better on demand. Music therapy takes in to account trauma, because a person’s experiences of loss and trauma can overlap.

With clinical depression, music therapy can offer a way to engage, express feelings and connect with another person. It is not simply about playing cheerful songs to make someone happy. Research suggests that music therapy added with usual care, can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety and help people participate more in everyday life.

He has an interesting way of conducting his work, “A culture-centered music therapy approach considers the language, beliefs and values and traditions, which matters to a particular person, rather than assuming that one kind of music works for everyone. Music and wellbeing have meanings within people’s cultural lives, so understanding those meanings matters to how we offer care. I would start by getting to know the person, rather than immediately choosing music for them. Music therapy is an intentional process, so the activities need to connect with what the person wants or needs support with”.

Imtiaz concluded: At the end, I would ask what felt helpful, what did not, and what we should change next time. The aim would not be to produce a beautiful performance. It would be to use music in a way that supports that person’s wellbeing. I would see value in those moments because the work is not about showing what I can do as a musician. It is about listening, responding and allowing the person’s own voice to lead. If someone left a session feeling, ‘I was heard, and I did not have to pretend to be okay,’ that would feel deeply meaningful.

Art therapy and the work of remembrance

Art therapy bypasses the logical mind, allowing grievers to externalize feelings that are too painful or complex to put into spoken words. This often done by creating "Grief Landscapes" like painting, sculpting, or drawing, which allows individuals to give a shape, colour, and texture to their pain - making it something external that can be observed and managed.

By crafting collages, quilts, or mixed-media art from a late loved one's possessions, individuals can preserve an enduring connection and turn grief into a physical tribute. In therapy, the emphasis remains squarely on the act of making rather than the aesthetic outcome. This frees individuals from the burden of perfectionism, reflecting the inherently untidy nature of emotional recovery.

While older grief frameworks prioritized "closure" and letting go, contemporary expressive arts therapies embrace a more spiritual approach: integrating loss directly into the ongoing narrative of one's life. Participating in these creative activities frequently sparks spiritual renewal, helping people honour their sorrow while uncovering a fresh capacity for joy, purpose, and self-understanding.

Speaking to the Bangladeshi-Canadian musician, co-founder and creative director Ziyan of Space for Grief - a Toronto-based public art and research initiative exploring grief, memory, mental health, said: This is how we build more compassionate communities and systems of care. Our work has grown internationally, including collaborations with the NHS in the UK, engagement with hospitals and healthcare practitioners, and connections with organizations exploring climate grief, ecological loss, and well-being.

Ziyan’s Space for Grief is a placemaking initiative with roots in wellness, healthcare, and peacebuilding. It explores how we can rethink the futures of individual and community well-being through systems theory and strategic foresight, using art as a vehicle for storytelling, immersion, and connection.

The initiative aims to destigmatize the expression of grief, as well as inspire and provoke important social conversations. They create spaces for grief in physical arenas and individual headspaces, bridging the gap between social and personal processes of grieving.

Turning grief into public conversation

Ziyan is a designer, systems & strategic foresight practitioner and an artist in Canada. He said, “The idea came from wanting to find some fun way to approach guitar and composition in physical space and part of it was trying to address the grief I found across multiple industries, sectors and people through my work designing products and services through my agency I cofounded”.

He explained, “This year, we partnered with Mount Pleasant Group for its 200th anniversary, transforming 10 historic cemeteries across the greater Toronto area into immersive public art experiences exploring Toronto’s history, multicultural communities, migration, nature, and remembrance. Our flagship installation at the Toronto Necropolis features original music, projections, and collaborations with internationally recognized artists including Plini from Australia, Henry Reinach (Wicked, The Wild Robot), Sandy Hudson, and Justin Blake (BBC’s Planet Earth III)”.

“Across our recent installations, we’ve welcomed over 100,000 visitors and generated approximately 1.8 million media impressions, with coverage from CBC, Canadian Architect, Spacing, OCAD University, and others”, Ziyan commented.

Faizul Khan Tanim is a writer and works as a State Government Emergency Responder based on Sydney, Australia.