Research tells us that sad music can actually make us feel better. One study, by Liila Taruffi and Stefan Koelsch, concluded there were at least four distinct rewards from listening to happy-to-be-sad songs. Today.com lists these:
1. The biggest reward turned out to be that sad songs allow you to feel sadness without any of its ‘real-life implications.’ In other words, you can safely explore what it’s like to be a little blue without experiencing the intense grief of mourning a loved one, for example.
2. ‘Emotion regulation’ was another important reward. Many respondents said that when they were in a bad mood, experiencing sadness through music made them feel better afterwards and provided an emotional boost. That may be because the songs help them to express and release their emotions, Taruffi noted…
3. The reward of ‘imagination’ allowed listeners to feel as though they could express themselves as richly as the mournful music.
4. The ’empathy’ reward made the listener feel good by allowing him to share the sadness of another human being through the song.
Another who’s written about why we turn to sad music is Shahram Heshmat, PhD, Psychology Today. If the explanation snippets provided below pique your interest further, click on the link.
- Nostalgia: “…reflective revisiting of nostalgic memories may enhance mood…”
- Vicarious emotion: “Music helps to channel one’s frustration or purge negative emotions like anger and sadness. It’s cathartic.”
- Prolactin: This is a hormone “associated with crying and helps to curb grief…Sad music tricks the brain into engaging a normal, compensatory response by releasing prolactin. In the absence of a traumatic event, the body is left with a pleasurable mix of opiates with nowhere else to go. Prolactin produces feelings of calmness to counteract mental pain.”
- Empathy: “…may evoke an empathic concern in those with a strong disposition to empathy.”
- Mood regulation: “…enables the listener to disengage from distressing situations (breakup, death, etc.) and focus instead on the beauty of the music. Further, lyrics that resonate with the listener’s personal experience can give voice to feelings or experiences that one might not be able to express oneself.”
- An imaginary friend: “The listener enjoys the mere presence of a virtual person, represented by the music, who is in the same mood and can help cope with sad feelings.”
What are some sad songs from your own playlist? If you don’t already have your faves, here are some to consider:
- Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O’Connor
- Dance With My Father, Luther Vandross
- For a Dancer, Jackson Browne
- Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
- Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Elton John
- Everything I Wanted, Billie Eilish
- How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Al Green
- Blue Bucket of Gold, Sufjan Stevens/Gallant
- They Won’t Go When I Go, Stevie Wonder
- It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday, Boyz II Men
- Piece by Piece (Idol Version), Kelly Clarkson
- Top of the World, The Chicks
- I Can’t Make You Love Me, Bonnie Raitt
- Stay, Rihanna featuring Mikki Ekko
- Good Enough, Sarah McLachlan
- A Thousand Years, Christina Perri
- Jealous, Labrinth
- Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
- Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon & Garfunkel
