Over the last week I felt like I had fallen in love – that kind of first time you set eyes on someone sort of love and your heart beats faster, your breathing changes, you have butterflies in your stomach, your body temperature rises and your eyes dilate. Just in this case it was not with a person, but a beautiful song.
These ‘symptoms’ are part of a real physiological process that happen when you listen to your favourite music, no matter what genre it is. Certain networks in the brain increase in activity. Dopomine gets released into the bloodstream, which then gives that tingly skin sensation we know as ‘goosebumps’.
I’m fascinated by the effects of music, so much so, that my university dissertation was based on ‘The Effects of Music on Creative Thought in Children’, and later studying as a Kindermusik teacher ‘The Benefits of Music.’
So let’s get back to my falling in love experience…
Simple Minds’ new album ‘Walk Between Worlds’ is due to be released this Friday 2nd February and a few songs have already been officially showcased on the internet.
When you are a passionate fan of a group, you know exactly what that feeling of expectation and excitement is like on hearing new material for the first time. This was me, the teenager eagerly waiting to hear ‘Once Upon A Time’ in its entirety. And this will be me, again like that teenager, when I finally hear their new album in its entirety, 33 years later.
But what I felt a few days ago when I heard one of the new tracks for the first time was such a wonderful experience it goes to show that music is the food of love.
Hearing ‘Sense of Discovery’, right from its very opening bars transported me on a cosmic journey. My mind started daydreaming of flying through space and a familiarity rang to the chord changes that were pleasurably comforting as I anticipated where they were going. The twinkling guitar-sounds took me back to my pre-uni days of ‘Street Fighting Years’. Great memories! Then Jim’s (the lead singer’s) voice came in, strong, tender, warm, sublime. Hearing that quality in his voice made me smile. I held my breath momentarily and my heart I swore skipped a beat. I was transported back to those late nights listening to my ‘Once Upon A Time’ cassette before going to sleep. I was in pure bliss. A few minutes into the track came the uplifting female chorus lines, which are an adaptation from the chorus of one of my favourite songs of the band, ‘Alive and Kicking’. The rhythm and intonation were more or less the same adding to that feeling of familiarity that really lifts my spirits. Oh, the joys of music! For me, this new song is just perfect. The type of song I could put on repeat and capture something different every single time.
Research
These are some of the results from researching the effects from music we enjoy:
Most music creates memories, but favourite songs recall memories.
No matter the genre, music we like makes us become more self-aware.
Music we like can help relax, soothe and lift moods.
Our brain drifts into a resting daydream.
Preferred music connects parts of the brain associated with introspection, mind-wandering and possibly imagination.
Music we like can increase creativity, productivity and calmness.
Favourite songs may plunge us into nostalgia (oh yes!)
The physiological process mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Our musical taste does tell us something about ourselves as a person and the song we love the most is associated with an intense emotional experience in our life. The music we enjoyed in our 20s will probably be the music we love for the rest of our life.
So the key to a person’s heart is hidden in their playlist!
Think about what is your favourite track and what it evokes in you. Feel free to share in the comments section.
