When you listen to music, what do you feel?
Is there a place in your body that changes when you hear your favourite song?
I haven’t studied music, but I am passionate about how it can help process feelings and emotions, both conscious and unconscious.
There are probably studies surrounding the effect that music has on emotions as well as emotions caused by music (think of the track ‘Married Life’ from Up, there’s a reason you want to cry), but I won’t pretend to be knowledgeable in any of that.
I will be sharing my own experiences with music.
I was speaking to a new friend recently who also has a passion for music, and it was so interesting to see that we both have similar perspectives on the way music makes us feel.
Something we could both agree on was that there was some sort of message being communicated to us, be it through the universe or through the thoughts, words and actions of those who brought the music into being.
From my perspective, music manifests or amplifies a certain energy or emotion within my body, which sometimes results in movement or singing. I feel like many people experience this, but I also invite you to listen to your own favourite song and notice what sensations arise.
Do you feel the need to move or be still? Do you feel the deep pull of sadness or the light brightness of happiness? Where is this happening in your body?
Right now I love listening to The Seed by AURORA, the way her voice builds with every heartbeat evokes feelings of hope, power and change. It’s as if I can feel her voice traveling up my body, directing my movements and healing the sorrow beneath the surface by letting it seep out through my skin.
When I was talking with my friend, I explained to her my thought process for how I feel the emotions of a song.
When a human being has a feeling, emotion or experience, they may feel the call to create something from it, in this case it would be music. As the person makes music, using melody and lyrics to portray what they felt, their internal feeling becomes physical.
When others eventually listen, someone else will receive the feeling, emotion or experience as a message from the creator. However, because we as humans are infinitely diverse with infinitely diverse experiences, this message can be translated into something that the person listening to has gone through.
In this way, they have applied something to their own lived experience, new meanings arising with every new person who listens.
My belief is that humans are innately creative, and that creativity is vital to our lives, whether we realise it or not. Which is why it is so wondrous to me that we can have access to others art, in whatever form that takes, because it creates a creativity cycle that inspires people over and over again with each other’s work.
For example, you could say that every song I listened to, and that has affected me in some way, has inspired me to write this post which may in turn inspire you reading this to create something else and so on.
It’s also amazing that different instruments and vocals within a piece of music can evoke all sorts of emotions. For me, it almost feels like I am the music; each instrument is an aspect of myself and with every note and chord, my aspects are moving within me.
Music always helps to bring my feelings to the surface in one way or another.
After all, acknowledging what you’re feeling is the first step towards healing (hey that rhymes!).
After I’ve shared how much music affects me and how much it matters, I want to share with you some of the playlists that I’ve created and listen to regularly.
✨Emotional Value✨
This playlist is the one to go to when I want to feel my feelings (read: sadness).
A lot of these songs belong to favourite media that I’ve consumed such as Star Wars and Marvel as well as emotional songs that I heard as TikTok audios. ‘Love Power’ is one such song. Actually, hearing the song play to an animated TikTok made me watch the movie.
Another heartfelt song is ‘Across the Stars’. You have no idea how many books and fanfics I’ve read with this playing in the background. Many tears have been shed to the beautiful violins on this track.
Autumn Childe 🍁
So childe is spelled with an ‘e’, because I loved Vampire: the Masquerade at the time, particularly the live-play LA By Night.
This playlist is made for relaxing.
Imagine the weather is grey and rain is drizzling from the sky, making patterns on the windows with a pitter patter pitter patter. The first song ‘Oats in the Water’ really brings a sense of introspection to the moment, making me feel as though I’m floating weightless in a pool.
The song ‘The Racing Rats’ ups the stakes with a feeling of desperate longing, perhaps for change, perhaps for someone to see you, to make a difference to the lives of others.
Louise’s Metal Playlist
I actually made this for a coworker who left a few months ago, because we enjoyed the same type of music.
This is not even the full extent of my metal music collection, but the majority of the songs are by Powerwolf (my favourite band). ‘Call of the Wild’ is truly a call to action with guitar riffs that make me want to stand up and do something!
‘Crack the Sky’ is the song that got me into metal. The vocals, despite their harshness, makes me smile. I love bopping to the beat. It’s fun to hear the singer call Thor to ‘let your hammer fly, let your lightening crack the blackened sky’.
Please let me know if you feel the same way as I do, or if you have a different perspective on feeling music as emotions. I’d love to hear from you!
Stay safe out there 💖