An endless amount of research has been conducted on the effect music has on mood.
And while there’s still some debate as to exactly what goes on when tears start streaming down our faces at the first note of Enya’s “Only Time,” most researchers agree on a few things, mainly that we can use music to:
1. Change emotions
2. Release emotions
3. Match our current emotions
4. Enjoy or comfort ourselves
5. Relieve stress
This helps explain the variety of playlists currently stored on my iPod.
For example, there’s the playlist to motivate me to “Get Up and Run” for my morning exercise, “Relaxing Songs” for moments when I’m feeling a wee bit stressed, and “Classical Brain Busters” for when I’m writing and want to feel studious.
The number of ways to classify songs under a catchy playlist title is endless for an organizational nut like myself.
But if you’ve ever set out to create a playlist for a specific life situation, like when you’re in love or going through a divorce, you know that things can get way more complicated than finding a song that matches the beat of your feet hitting the pavement on your morning run.
For example, if you’re putting together a playlist for your break-up, what kind of mood do you want to create? Do you want mostly angry songs? Sad songs? Songs that make you feel like you can conquer the world?
This is the dilemma I found myself in as I set out to create a playlist for my trip to Brazil.
Did I want the music to be relaxing? Thought provoking? Inspiring?
At first, I thought I should play it safe and stick with inspiring songs, like “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. After all, I didn’t want to include songs that might trigger the emotions I was so desperately trying to overcome (….fear!).
But after asking for your feedback in an email and on Facebook, I realized that when it comes to music there are way more categories and genres of songs, and way more emotions that can be evoked and moods that can be created, than I could have ever imagined!
So I decided to include a variety of songs, all of which had different effects on my mood. I’ve never heard of many of the suggestions I received, which is awesome!
After many hours of listening to all of the amazing songs sent my way, here it is: My “Brazilian Travels” playlist:
1. “Paradise” – Coldplay
2. “Challa” – A.R. Rahman
3. “Lost” – Coldplay + Jay-Z
4. “I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas
5. “Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine
6. “Not Afraid” – Eminem
7. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” – The Verve
8. “Home” – Phillip Phillips
9. “I Will Wait” – Mumford & Sons
10. “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” – Michel Telo
11. “Somewhere in the Middle” Opaline by Dishwalla
12. “They” – Jem
13. “Us” – Regina Spektor
14. “Airplanes” – B.o.B. Featuring Hayley Williams
15. “All the Right Moves” – One Republic
16. “Human” – The Killers
17. “Mul Mantra” – Snatam Kaur
18. “The World Has Turned And Left Me Here” – Weezer
19. “This is Your Life” – The Killers
20. “Lied2” – Andrea Bocelli
21. “Travels” – Pat Metheny
22. “Turtle Back Hill” – Max Lasser
23. “Breathe Me” – Sia
24. “Praise You” – Fatboy Slim
25. “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay (I couldn’t resist!)
Thank you to all those that contributed!
Tell me in the comments below: What’s on your go-to playlist, and how does it affect your mood?
Here’s a great summary of some of the research on our emotional responses to music.
Photo by RelaxingMusic via Flickr
