When I am feeling sad, all I want to do is clear my schedule, make a nice cup of tea and blast ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ by Led Zeppelin at full volume (sorry to my flatmates). How is it possible that sad music sounds ten times better when we are feeling miserable? What is it about coordinating our feelings to the tracks in our playlist, and why is it so cathartic?
Some may say that the best course of action is to pick something cheerful to listen to, to lift spirits up. I say embrace the pain with the perfect tear-inducing selection of songs! Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we should strive to live in a perpetual state of sadness and do nothing about it, but being sad is a part of the experience of being human. There is no way around it, repressing feelings has been tried by many—including myself—and has repeatedly failed.
This is where music comes in: not only is it a great way to navigate our feelings and understand them, but it also makes us realise that we are not alone. Music at its core is an expression of somebody’s experience that transcends time and place. It is a description of feelings; the sorrow, loneliness, love, heartbreak of a complete stranger, somehow feels like it was written for each of us personally. Whenever I listen to ‘Both Sides Now’ I feel like Joni Mitchell is singing just for me, providing great comfort that I can’t get from anything or anyone else. This personal relationship we have with our favourite pieces of music allows us to indirectly share what we are going through without having to explain ourselves to others, which is something we are not always in the mood for.
Listening to your thoughts being eloquently put into words and melodies is also the ultimate form of validation. It is a way to relate to someone you have never met, from a different place and a different era, leading you to thoughts like “Is this really a problem worth being sad about?” and if yes, the realisation that others have been through the same and that it will eventually get better.
So ultimately, leaning into our sadness by the means of a great album or song can be therapeutic and put situations we are dealing with into perspective. And if it doesn’t, our favourite artists can keep us company through gloomy days, and remind us that this too shall pass.
Illustration by Tracy Ratliff @paisley_pen_creative