Sad is the new happy

Not long ago (in November, me thinks) a study came out claiming that listening to sad or melancholic music can actually "lift your spirits." According to the study, which was conducted by researchers at the Free University of Berlin, people experience more emotions when listening to sad music than happy music. The emotional roller-coaster that sad music incurs "can improve a person's emotional well-being as well as make us feel at peace and nostalgic." (Daily Mail)

I knew there was a good reason I always felt better after a marathon of melancholic tunes. And tears.

Liila Taruffi and Stefan Koelsch surveyed 722 people across the globe (and no, they didn't just lock them in a room and make them listen to Radiohead all day) to try and understand how they felt after listening to sad or melancholic music. People in Europe and the U.S. said they felt "nostalgic" while listeners in Asia said they felt "at peace."    

Participants, who ranged in age and gender, were asked to identify some of their favourite pieces of sad music. Not surprisingly (to me, anyway), Johnny Cash's interpretation of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt and Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out) are the two songs, with lyrics, that got the most votes.

hurt

street spirit (fade out)

The reason I say "not surprisingly" is because those are two of my guaranteed go-to tunes to get the tears flowing. As for songs without lyrics, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata got the most votes.

  moonlight sonata

I thought the study was really interesting because I have always been drawn to melancholic music. And I'm a very nostalgic person. I knew I was emotionally complex!

While Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out) is a real downer (in a good way), Everything in it's Right Place is a close second.

everything in it's right place 

Another depressing (in an uplifting way) song I've been listening to a lot lately is Ben Harper's Another Lonely Day. Sniff.

another lonely day

After reading about the study last night, I went looking for some melancholic music. I found a band, and a song, that I've never heard of or heard before but both totally blew my mind (and eyeballs). It reminded me of something that could have been playing when my grandparents first met in Poland.

hungry ghosts, i don't think about you anymore but

Vincent Vallières' On va s'aimer encore is another song that I can't listen to without crying no matter how hard I try.

On va s'aimer encore

I LITERALLY just started crying the second the song started.

And then there's The Stranglers' Golden Brown. Nostalgia indeed.

golden brown

What are some of the sad songs that you enjoy listening to? I'd love to know.