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Original poster

Do you find music so very emotionally powerful?

57 replies

Handcreamqueen · 09/10/2023 09:51

I love music, adore most genres of music.

My mum always had the radio playing as I was growing up and I always have the radio playing in the background wherever I am.
I flick between various stations and in particular stations playing music from my younger years (70’s and 80’s). I also adore Jazz, Classical and Country.

I’ll admit to being an emotional/sensitive person but music really does something to me.

It can drive me insane and make me angry (especially heavy metal which is not my thing), totally relax me (I listen to relaxing Jazz or Country at night) but can also have me is tears, uncontrollable tears.

I am currently listening to Classic FM and they’ve played a John Barry piece (as they often do), I have no idea why his music affects me so much but I literally have tears rolling down my face every time I listen to his music. No idea why that is, but it truly sets something off in me and it’s not because they make me depressed but it triggers off something within me.

Does anyone else adore music and is emotionally charged by certain songs or pieces of music?

OP posts:
stickygotstuck · 09/10/2023 11:58

Yes, but I'd say it depends on what mood I am in when I start to listen.

My particular soft spot is choral music - while I like it a lot, it's not my favourite genre to listen to, but it is what usually affects me the most.

Like other PPs, music is very important to me, it has helped a lot throughout my life. I'm totally inept at playing an instrument mind! My theory is that my brain is so good at music appreciation, it has no space for performance - it makes me feel less useless 😂

Worldgonecrazy · 09/10/2023 11:59

Any art can affect me and move me to tears. There is a certain artist I adore and her paintings stir strong emotions in me.

Certain songs will also make me feel extremely emotional, either because the music is so beautiful, or it reminds me of a person who is no longer here.

Echobelly · 09/10/2023 12:00

Yes, though not affects me as much as classical music. There are some pieces I put on when I just need a good cry and some I feel tearful even thinking about and some just generate joy as well.

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Jux · 09/10/2023 12:12

Yes, ohhhhh yes. Britten is particularly good at word painting - listen to his Agnus Dei from the Missa Brevis and see if you see crowds of souls reaching up begging for mercy.

And Alison Kraus singing Jacob's Dream, or Milstein playing the Paganini variations. Then there's Beethoven's Eroica, or Creedence Clearwater Revival doing Down on the corner which make me dance despite my disabilty....

The sheer breath-taking beauty of Purcell's Funeral Sentences....

My lists go on and on and on

whoamI00 · 09/10/2023 12:20

I choose music depending on my mood, not the other way around

toadasoda · 09/10/2023 12:52

HereComesColinFrissel · 09/10/2023 11:12

Absolutely yes, I've just listened to James Blunt The Girl Who Never Was, after someone posted about it on here and in floods of tears! (It's a song about miscarriage)

Lots of others get me too, The John Dunbar Theme - just because it's so beautiful. My Dad brought me up to appreciate all different music and he is also moved by certain pieces

I think some people get it and some people don't, but for me it definitely evokes strong emotions

Gosh yes the John Dunbar theme. I just listened to that on spotify, so incredibly moving. Thanks for reminding me of it

toadasoda · 09/10/2023 12:56

I wouldn't be moved to tears OP but it does affect my mood, to the point that I would avoid certain things if I'm feeling low. I think its innate, I had no music in my house growing up but was always drawn to it from as young as I remember. My little boy was always deeply affected to the point that he could sob at something beautiful and dance or upbeat music energises him. Even as a little baby I would put on certain pieces of classical music and he would become completely still and get agitated when it ended.

IStandWithSycamoreGap · 09/10/2023 13:26

Oh yes. I'm currently listening to Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, it is pure bliss. 😊😊😊

Enderunicorn · 09/10/2023 13:29

I both have a deep love of music and can feel emotion and appreciate a song in a really meaningful way and also since pregnancy with my first will annoyingly start crying at music that I can tell has been placed in an advert, film or tv series to convey or incite emotion. There are a few Lloyds ads where I will start crying after 2 seconds of the music even though I don't in any way care but somehow my brain just responds like one of Pavlovs dogsConfused

Original poster
Handcreamqueen · 09/10/2023 14:12

BalletBob · 09/10/2023 11:41

Music is an enormous part of my life. It helps me to process emotions about some big things. It's therapy for me. I genuinely believe I would be a shell of myself if I hadn't had music to help me process and express my grief at certain times.

And in happier times it brings me alive and is intertwined with all my most cherished memories. When I think about any big event in my life, there's a song or piece that instantly comes to mind. It can influence my mood and make me more productive, help me to relax, help me to focus.

Honestly music is everything to me.

MIL is totally different. She famously has a compilation of chart hits from 2012 or something that she plays every now and then but that's literally it. She doesn't care for music at all. I just can't comprehend that at all. Funny how different we can all be!

I’m nodding my head to everything you’ve written, even down the your mil.
Music is a huge part of my life, I always have it on in the background of my day to day living, it is a constant in my life.
My in laws on the other hand never listened to anything, they had a radio but it was never turned on. Their house was silent. I grew up in a house with music playing all the time.

OP posts:
EmpressSoleil · 09/10/2023 14:21

I think if music doesn't affect you in anyway then you are already dead

I guess I’m already dead then! I never listen to music. I wfh and the house is blissfully silent all day long. I used to listen to it when I was young but even then I’d get bored of it. It has never made me “feel” anything. I’ve never liked dancing either. If someone told me I could never listen to music again, I wouldn’t be that bothered.

I’m not without emotion, news stories, films, books etc can make me emotional. But music is mostly just annoying (and yes I have tried many different types over the years).

Frankley · 09/10/2023 14:28

I too get emotional when listening to all sorts of music. Brings back memories.
@Jackienory l miss Steve Allen, although he was annoying sometimes. No one mentions him now. I wonder what happened and hope he's okay. l think he would be selling the equivalent of the tea towel, glasses etc about now as it is charity raising time.

ShutTheDoorBabe · 09/10/2023 14:50

I enjoy listening to music and love singing and dancing along to the radio wherever I am but no, I would not say it would move me or make me feel anything other than simply enjoying it.

Trickedbyadoughnut · 09/10/2023 14:52

PipersDream · 09/10/2023 10:03

Ummm, no. That sounds weird! Do you just randomly burst into tears when staring at the Sistine Chapel socks in the supermarket and they play the wrong song over the sound system?

Here for this comment 😂

No, OP, I don't have this, but will well up at anyone in real life or on TV showing strong emotion.

Drcrafty · 09/10/2023 14:55

I love heavy and rock music. It can energise me, calm me (in an odd way - it gets the anger out), put me in a great mood to have fun with friends and sometimes break my heart. My husband and I met due to our shared love of similar music and we have met wonderful friends through it who we go to gigs with. Music means a lot to me.

RaspberryCloud · 09/10/2023 15:29

IStandWithSycamoreGap · 09/10/2023 13:26

Oh yes. I'm currently listening to Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, it is pure bliss. 😊😊😊

Thanks for the tip - listening now and it's beautiful

Original poster
Handcreamqueen · 09/10/2023 15:32

Drcrafty my BIL loves heavy metal and says the same, it calms him. He can sit in a room with it blasting out, in absolute bliss whilst my sister has to leave the room as it has the complete opposite effect on her.
Just goes to highlight how we are all built differently and how different genres have different effects of us.

OP posts:
Parakeetamol · 09/10/2023 15:33

EmpressSoleil · 09/10/2023 14:21

I think if music doesn't affect you in anyway then you are already dead

I guess I’m already dead then! I never listen to music. I wfh and the house is blissfully silent all day long. I used to listen to it when I was young but even then I’d get bored of it. It has never made me “feel” anything. I’ve never liked dancing either. If someone told me I could never listen to music again, I wouldn’t be that bothered.

I’m not without emotion, news stories, films, books etc can make me emotional. But music is mostly just annoying (and yes I have tried many different types over the years).

I'm the same. After studying music for years I actively dislike music now and find I have to turn it off. If I can't I get twitchy.

Original poster
Handcreamqueen · 09/10/2023 15:34

I did the same RaspberryCloud went over to YT and had a little listen.
It’s a beautiful piece of music IStandWithSycamoreGap.

OP posts:
ImCamembertTheBigCheese · 09/10/2023 15:35

Yes, I love music and pieces can make me cry. I usually skip that song on my iPod

LusaBatoosa · 09/10/2023 15:43

I love music and listen to it pretty much constantly. However, I must say that I’m instantly suspicious of anyone who describes themselves as ‘sensitive’, and the OP also made me think ‘Sistine Chapel’.

Devilsmommy · 09/10/2023 15:44

I'm a heavy/ thrash metal fan and I love the way certain songs make me feel or the memories associated with them. Two songs that I can't listen to without crying are Slipknots Snuff and Johnny cash hurt. Two of the most beautiful songs ever😊

Peacelily001 · 09/10/2023 15:45

Yes, I love many types of music - from thrashy metal to disco. I find certain types of music quite meditative like when you’re in ‘the zone’ when dancing in a club.
My parents were musical so the radio was always on, or Dad was blasting out Led Zeppelin or Mozart!
I find Gospel incredibly moving (and I don’t have a religious bone in my body) but the beautiful voices, harmonies and sheer joy make me well up every time I hear it.

Strokethefurrywall · 09/10/2023 15:49

Absolutely. Music is pretty much my emotional be all and end all. I'm a musician/singer though and come from a very musical family so music through the ages has had a defining imprint on my life.

If I'm feeling out of sorts and off Centre, I plug in my music and find myself again.

I create various playlists of music that will either get me fired up or nostalgic depending on the genre and/or era. It recalls memories of certain times and events in my life, as much as smells/scents do.

Growing up I always had a soundtrack to my life, ever evolving but a constant. There are certain songs/pieces of music that being a tear and move me so much I can't perform them - Barbra Streisand singing A Piece of Sky is one of them, Andra Bocelli singing Time To Say Goodbye, Bring Him Home from Les Mis, Disturbed performing Sounds of Silence and recently hearing Emma Kok perform Voila with Andre Rieu gave me a hitch in my chest.

Different people have different emotional responses to varying stimuli and thank god for it. I mean I'm not wailing in the Sistine chapel but music is absolutely a powerful trigger in many peoples lives.

Deathraystare · 09/10/2023 16:37

Well I love everything from classical to Death metal and some stuff really stirs my soul!