Why Do We Connect So Deeply to Music?
The Magic of Music
Article by Lauren Galvis, Photos by Mackenzie Miller & Chloe Garza
Music is something that everybody can relate to in one way or another. Some like jazz while others prefer rock, but there is a genre and style of music for everyone. Not only does music uplift your spirits and help to distract your mind during difficult times, but it also creates images and scenarios in our head with just a chorus and a beat. According to University of Central Florida professors Kiminobu Sugaya and Ayako Yonetani, the hypothalamus (which is located in our brain) produces and releases essential hormones and chemicals that regulate thirst, appetite, sleep, mood, heart rate, body temperature, growth and sex drive. Music is connected to this in the sense that it causes certain chemicals to be released, which causes our brains to behave differently. It’s also worth saying (as a stressed college student) that cortisol levels decrease when listening to music, which translates to reduced stress levels. So our minds really are connected to music after all.
Ever since I was a little girl I have always had an imaginative way of thinking. To this day, I still daydream during class— see: grades. I daydream about my future and imagine wild scenarios that would probably never come true. One thing that always triggers some kind of daydream in my mind is music. Music has always been able to mentally rewire my mind into the mood of the song I am listening to. If I am listening to a sad song, even if it’s the happiest day of my life, I still somehow embody those sad emotions and tears start flowing. There are those songs that hold certain memories and have the power to make those pent up feelings from the past rise to the surface. Then there are songs that I can’t relate to at all, yet still trigger those emotions. This is where the daydreaming aspect of my mind comes into play.
Picture this: you are in the backseat of a car on a rainy day. Your headphones are in, your head is resting against the window looking at a city skyline, and Skinny Love by Bon Iver begins to play. I picture myself with another person, and we are two people who are deeply in love but have to go their separate ways. I see flashes of fights, love, happiness, laughter while the song plays in the background of our love story. I feel this sadness about losing someone who I am so in love with. What is so strange about this sensation is that I can see myself in my mind, but I know that it isn’t me. I know that I am not in a position where I am losing a loved one, but for some reason my emotions take over and I feel somber and heartbroken.
Not only do I experience these deep emotions associated with different songs, but I also long for a certain setting, or a different life depending on which song I am listening to. When I listen to Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson, I want to be walking around New York City on a crisp fall morning. I imagine holding a hot cappuccino in my hand as I walk to my cozy studio apartment and enter my own personal heaven. Simply put—if Banana Pancakes was the soundtrack to my life, I would have no complaints.
Music is not only for the ears, it is for the mind, body, and soul. I don’t think music would have a purpose if it was just noise to us. It has the ability to become anything you want and need at that moment. If “Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston comes on, and you want it to be your own personal runway song when trying on new clothes, then that is what it will be. Any hit by Adele can be a song that elicits that passion within you and gives you the courage to finally get over your ex, without shedding a single tear because that song made you stronger. Music is healing, comforting, and helpful because it isn’t there to judge you, it is there to help you. It can help you in ways you didn’t know were possible. You can also experience feelings and emotions that you know will fade away as soon as the song ends, but that is the beauty of music. The point is— music is whatever you want it to be.