I cant listen to music as often

[JamSandle]

I'm early thirties. I LOVE music but I find I can't listen to it as often.

It brings up a lot of memories and emotion now. And can put me in a funk for ages.

I still do listen but not as much as before. It feels like it carries so much meaning now - songs from when I was 17 and in love, travelling the world, starting my first job.

Anything with violins or the piano makes me cry.

Are you fine with music or do you find it effects you too much to listen a lot?

I get down if I don’t get a blast of rock frequently, it makes me happy.

I'm fine with it and have never heard of this, is it maybe a similar condition to the Screaming in the Sistine Chapel person? Certain works evoking such a deep emotion?

Songs from my childhood make me happy, even songs I listened to as a moody teen don't make me feel the same way, I laugh when I remember the drama of it all

Violins reach the soul. 🩷

Yes I know what you mean. Silence is easier- music evokes memories and thoughts and sometimes you just don't need that emotion as well as dealing with life.
I like to listen to music in the car now but that's it.

I'm exceedingly affected by what I expose myself to musically, what I watch, some of what I read.

But like smells for me, certain songs or bands take me right back to memories I've otherwise lost. It can be amazing, as much as sad.

Some folks are extra sensitive to this sort of stimuli. And that's fine. I adore that certain things touch me so deeply one way or another. Makes me feel alive.

Mid-40s male here. Habitually anxious and depressed, I find I need music more than ever. It’s a jolt that connects me to the past. And also snaps me back into the present.

I have several default songs to listen to when I’m in a funk. Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren, or Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.

Other music gives me a blast of energy.

This always makes me cry - a man describing the death of his wife, the mother of his young child:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XzPl2nf7Eks

There’s a lot of stuff that I can’t listen to since I was widowed.

I know what you mean OP, some songs will take me back to a time that suddenly makes the memory seem so vivid that it hurts. I lost one of my childhood friends when we were in our 20s and a lot of 90s stuff when we were teenagers reminds me of her and it's painful but it also makes me feel close to her too.

There are a few songs I avoid listening to because I associate them with sad/bad times. But that's all, no big deal. And if I did happen to hear my violent ex-partner's favourite song or something, it wouldn't 'put me in a funk for days'. I'd think 'Urggh, this shite' and turn off the radio and that would be that.

I certainly don't cry at the mere presence of certain instruments. Is there a reason that you have such an extreme reaction to them? Were your parents murdered by violins when you were a child? Or flattened by a falling piano during a farcical Laurel & Hardy style house-move?

Yes 100% I was thinking about this the other day. There are certain songs/ bands that even though I love the music, I just can’t listen to or only listen to if I’m in the right mood as like you said it stirs up so much emotion.

Not necessarily because of the music itself but because of how intrinsically linked the song/ band is to a particularly part of my life/ past. I suppose a bit like looking at old photos does.

I think the trick here is to start listening to new music. Try and find new bands and singers. They may not evoke the same feelings of nostalgia as the music from your teens.

I wonder if you’re a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) - it’s not really to do with being sensitive in the way most people think of it, but more how a person reacts to stimulation.

I’m one, and what you said about music really resonated with me. I also can’t listen to music more generally if I’m working, or if I feel over stimulated.

I thought It was just me. So many beautiful, greatly put together songs on my Phone. But I can't listen to them casually, takes me to lots of places. Thank you for this post.

As Kublacant said above, why not find some new music? There is SO much out there! Make new memories!

Get Spotify if you can, and try out the algorithms that play you new stuff based on songs you already like. I listen to at least one new album a week. ( Although now stuck listening to Jamie xx's In Colour over and over because it's so good)

I used to be obsessed with all sorts of music genres, I would collate playlist after playlist and listen on repeat. I can't listen to a single thing since a very traumatic family event. It's like it represents the old, naive me from before my world shattered. It just makes me sad to think of her before everything turned to crap. I'm through the worst of it now, it's been a couple of years and the dust has settled. But I'm totally unable to listen to music at all. I don't even watch live television in case adverts use familiar songs. It's become a sort of phobia. I just wince when I'm reminded of that other half of my life before I knew everything I knew now about my family.

I'm also early thirties and am exactly like this. I wondered if it's because of the nostalgia of youth and knowing that's never coming back. Being in your early 20s and having all these hopes and dreams and the soundtrack that went with that can hit hard.

I know that sounds morbid, and we're technically youngish still but it must be the reason for me.

I'm now married with a baby, and although very happy I'm quite likely to never feel the thrill of falling in love and doing all these crazy things ever again

Well just wait til you’re in your 50’s. ( and presumably older ages too). I was listening to some 80’s tracks from my youth which was fine then one particular song came on I hadn’t heard for ages and although it was not a special song for me particularly it made me feel so sad and homesick for that time I had to switch it off. Homesick is the closest feeling I have to describe it.. way worse than purely nostalgic.

Yes I think I am. Very sensitive to music, art, beauty. More and more as I get older.

Different music is definitely the solution! Try an old band, a different radio station or an unfamiliar genre.
I've been homesick for my city for a couple of years now and every time I hear a song by a band from that area, I want to cry. There are so, so many though! Then there are Christmas songs which upset me too, that's when my Dad died. I have to wear earphones in the shops around this time lest they play Merry Christmas (War Is Over) or Wonderful Christmas Time.