Mindful Music: How Music Affects Your Mood
Written by Charlie Rowe
Sometimes when I find myself listening to music, I notice that I pick tracks that reflect the mood I'm in at a given time. This can be great, except for when I’m not in the best of moods. When I’m sad I love to listen to music that’ll affirm my feelings of sadness. I’m a sucker for a good song that’ll make me cry so I can feel my feelings. This can be a great outlet for stuck emotions and can create a safe space for me to let out my emotions and embrace them rather than burying them down.
Recently, I have taken notice that even when I’m in a good mood I’m still reaching for those sad songs, which ends up making me feel sad when I am, at my core, happy. This can be frustrating because despite knowing that we’re capable of experiencing multiple emotions at once, I felt like I was creating an unnecessary space for sadness when I was overall happy. I wasn’t sad due to external life factors, but rather at my own hands of pressing play on music that dampened my mood. And I wasn’t really doing a thing about it, just letting the music play and lower my mood. I started thinking to myself, is this normal? Why is it that when I’m feeling secure and happy, music has the power to affect my emotions & change my mood?
Turns out, I’m not unique in this feeling. This article titled, “Don’t Listen to Sad Songs: Exploring the Impact on Mental Health”, explores this idea, and the reverse impact. While it’s true that listening to sad songs can bring your mood down, it also discusses how listening to happier music can help boost your mood and lift you out of a funk. It seems so obvious, but before looking into this phenomenon I couldn’t understand why a sad song made me sad if I was just listening to the incredibly written lyrics or the instrumentation, and not necessarily the meaning of the song.
Listening to melancholy music can amplify any negative emotions we have and trigger memories and associations of difficult events or painful periods in our lives as well. In fact, some music listeners turn to sad songs as a form of escapism or catharsis, to process their own feelings and feel better knowing that their experiences can be shared, not only with everyday people, but also with the artist they look up to.
Empathy plays a significant role in our emotional response to sad songs. A listener may listen to a song that is sad and empathize with the artist and the emotions they are expressing, which in turn tunes us into these emotions. With all of this considered, I dedicated myself to being more mindful about my music choices this summer to boost my mood and take in the sunshine with more appreciation and intention.
As an avid music lover and listener, I could easily create a playlist thousands of hours long with all songs that make me feel good, that feel like summer, or just make me want to dance. But I figured for something to share, I should whittle it down a bit. Hence, the creation of this playlist of 50 songs that feel warm like summertime, or make me happy, or both. Click here: Feel Good Summer Songs to listen along and soak in the vibes!
One of my favorite songs on this whole playlist is the very first song, “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan. I was introduced to Chappell in 2021, and I am so happy for her sudden flourish in the industry this year. Her songs are full of 80’s type beats, whimsical lyrics, queer joy, and a beautiful voice. I chose this song specifically because the beat is infectious and I’ve turned to it whenever I need a mood boost and it never fails to make me smile and dance. The bridge is one of my favorite things to scream along to when I see her in concert, sing this song at karaoke, or hear her on a night out and it always brings back those happy memories as I’m listening.
Another song on this playlist I want to highlight is “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” by One Direction. As the title suggests, it’s technically a sad song as the content of the song is the narrator wondering if an ex-flame of theirs had moved on, and trying to find them after hurting them. Despite the melancholy lyrics, the instrumentation is anything but. We have a heavy rock influence with drums, guitar, and bass that electrifies everything the One Direction boy’s sing. The way this song is crafted makes me feel summery, while also making me feel like I could take on the world. The beginning strum of a guitar and twinkle sounds (that I’m guessing come from a piano, but reminds me of stars in a night sky) run pure happiness through my veins in the first 5 seconds, and I’ve never found myself sad after singing along to this song.
To close out this playlist, I have a song so near and dear to my heart that I got it as a tattoo, none other than, “Stop Making This Hurt” by Bleachers. This song at its core is just about letting go of the things that hurt you. The beginning of the chorus opens with “stop making this hurt, just say goodbye like you mean it” and everytime I hear this bit of the chorus I feel rejuvenated. The entire song has upbeat, spunky saxophone and overall just a great beat that makes you want to dance. A lot of times when I’m harboring a negative emotion for a time I deem longer than I should, I listen to this song and instantly feel better.
I have started to gravitate to this playlist more and more in the mornings or when I’m doing a routine task and I can already see more enthusiasm in the things I do. I loved this small, but impactful, little self care playlist I made and I hope you do too.
Be Well,
Charlie Rowe
