Schopenhauer’s idea that only music can truly make humans really happy, because of the immaterial essence, is one of my favourite philosophical statements. Why is it that listening to music can be so powerful?! Virginia Hughes, a freelance journalist focussing on neuroscience with a blog on National Geographic revealed: ‘When you listen to a song for the first time, the strength of certain neural connections can predict how much you like the music, and that these preferences are guided by what you’ve heard and enjoyed in the past.’
Many people also relate a song to their own personal experiences. If they hear the melody or the lyrics, they are transported to another time or a specific stage in their lives. This process happens very fast and you can’t resist its temptation! Even though your taste of music will change over time, you will always have a list of favourite songs. These songs will never become annoying because this song is either pure genius and therefore stays a classic, or it is one of these pieces of music which has become a part of your life. You feel close to these songs just like you do with a special person!
I had a teacher in high school who told us that putting your headphones on is like shutting off from the world. I never really agreed with him; when I was using my headphones, I never had the feeling that I would isolate myself from the world. On the contrary, I would pay more attention to my surroundings and I would change what I was listening to based on the weather! If the sun was shining, I would choose more uplifting songs like ‘One’ by The Bee Gees or ‘Inner Smile’ by Texas. When it was very cold and you could see grey clouds everywhere, I would listen instead to more melancholy songs like ‘Aretha’ by Rumer or ‘SOS by ABBA.
However, you can become addicted to music and leaving your mobile phone/MP3 player becomes very difficult, as you’re used to listening to music every time you go out! You will see people with big headphones on, so absorbed in their thoughts that they fail to recognise what is happening around them. Sometimes you have to take a break from music, because listening to it the whole day isn’t healthy either. So a certain balance is required and you will always find people who don’t share your taste or don’t understand why you find this particular song so special- but music is very personal, and will continue to be a very important part of my life!
I’ve added a link to one of my own playlists filled with personal favourites here: https://open.spotify.com/user/nataschaewert/playlist/2qC2jGnONYvCbQVv7Z