Have you ever just had a really bad day and put on a little bit of sad music just to make you feel even sadder? No? Just me? Okay. I don’t know about you but my mood can do a real 180 depending on what music I’m listening to or even just amplify whatever mood I’m in.
Picture this: you’re driving up the Sea-to-Sky, the sun is just about to set and is glistening on the pacific, it’s literally a perfect picture, and then your favourite song comes along. The song that is just perfectly curated for those sunset drives and seems to make your good mood just that much better. It’s magic in a song. Or maybe you’re curled up on your couch on a rainy day with a good book and that perfect acoustic rainy day song turns on just making the day that much more cozy. Music really does have the power to shift your mood or even your behaviour. It has a grip on you. That one song that comes on the radio on your morning commute to work can either change your day for better or maybe even in some cases, the worst.
Time for a quick science/psychology lesson. It’s pretty obvious and I guarantee you know that music is able to make you feel things. Whether it’s the pulsing bass of your favourite rock song or a melody of delicate piano keys the sounds you hear trigger emotional response. Not to get all scienc-y on you but that’s because music taps into the brain’s limbic system (I was a psychology major at one point in time) and the limbic system is responsible for processing emotions. When you hear a song or a beat that you love, your brain releases dopamine which is the happy-feel good chemical – the same one that fires off when you eat your favourite food or scoring a good grade on your final exam. Dopamine can change your mood in a positive way. So the next time you’re sad and shuffle your “favourite songs” playlist and suddenly feel a bit better, you can thank your good friend dopamine for that. Dopamine is also addictive, we want to feel that happiness and satisfaction so that could be one of the reasons why your favourite songs are always on repeat! When you hear music that sounds good to you, your brain lights up like a Christmas tree. Different parts of the brain process various aspects of the music: pitch, tempo, and lyrics each activate distinct neural pathways. The auditory cortex deciphers the sounds, the motor cortex gets you tapping your feet, and the prefrontal cortex helps you interpret the emotional content. But it’s not just the brain that gets impacted, your body can have a physical response too. Fast paced or intense jams can increase your heart rate and blood pressure while chill melodies can lower anxiety and reduce stress hormones.
But music isn’t always about happy feel-good moments. Ever find yourself getting choked up over a sad hit even if you weren’t feeling particularly emotional? That’s because music can act as a mirror, reflecting emotions you might have not realized you were carrying. But you can also feel those sad feelings from either your connection to the artist or the lyrics in the song.
Not only does music affect your emotions, it influences what you do too. Have you ever noticed you feel like you lift a PR or run an extra kilometre when you hear the beat dropping on the song that gets you energized. I mean c’mon, I know you have that gym playlist. Studies show that upbeat music actually increases your motivation and endurance during physical activity, so next time you’re feeling unmotivated in the gym, put some hip-hop music on and get ready to feel sore the next day. Music can distract that muscle burn your feeling but it can also be like a shot of caffeine right to your system, something that wakes you up and gets you going.
Music dictates the pace of our lives. Maybe this is just me but I hear an upbeat song in my car like I’m in Fast And Furious. Well not really, my Volkswagon Bug definitely doesn’t drive like a sports car but you get the point. Restaurants use it to create an atmosphere that customers enjoy based on the brand and vibe of the restaurant and retail stores curate playlists to create specific vibes to boost sales.
One of the coolest things in my opinion about music is its ability to transport us back in time. A genre that always acts as a time machine for me is country music. As soon as I turn on some Morgan Wallen, suddenly I’m transported back to a summer day on the lake, tired from roasting in the sun but cooling off with an ice cold beer. I can literally feel the exact feelings through listening to the music which I think is super cool. It gets me excited for those Summer days and always puts me into a better mood. But it’s not always super cool, because sometimes it can do the opposite, put you in a bad or sad mood. Since music can tap into memories, triggering nostalgia, it can bring up a past you may have wished to just forget. Say you’re walking through the grocery store and that one song that was a hit at the time of your breakup comes on, yea, not a good scene. Or maybe it was just a period of time in your life where nothing seemed to be working in your favour and you hear a tune that brings you back to the dark days, not an ideal situation. But unfortunately or fortunately your brain is wired to create strong associations between music and memories, especially those times where you’re experiencing a lot of firsts. Like I can vividly remember the song that came on the first time I got behind the wheel. It was “One Dance” by Drake. I am by no means a Drake fan but whenever I hear that song I’m brought back to a 16 year old eager me who just got my first lick of freedom and excitement. So music can either be a shortcut for re-living your glory days or a ticket back to a time in life you just want to leave in the past.
Something that always shocks me is music’s impact on the brain through its connection to memory. For dementia patients, parts of the brain have a hard time recalling names or faces, but the areas that are associated with music don’t share those same struggles. Many researchers in the field have discovered that playing songs that are familiar to the patient can help with recall of important memories and the names and faces of their loved ones. Wow.
Whether you’re trying to hype yourself up, relax, or just feel something, music has your back. It’s that universal language that literally can connect everyone and anyone no matter the circumstances, thank god for music right!?