Before I begin this write-up, it is quite important that you know, it is fine to listen to the same old sappy song a gazillion times in a week. It truly is. There is no shame in the admission. I do that too. In fact, we all do. You arenât alone in this pursuit and like I usually say to my friends, repeating the same song is sustainable in a way. Just think about it. So, letâs get into why we actually do this to ourselves, and especially to our ears, by understanding the joy behind it.
If I had to think of a moment we could all collectively relate to, it would be us as kids screaming incoherent lyrics of a song which we didnât even understand. Some of us would have danced to popular songs flapping our arms and bouncing with our tiny wobbly legs, watching it on television with bated breath and parted mouths. Then we would have pestered our parents to play it once again from the start and somehow, the more we heard it, the better it got. Our parents went along with the headache of listening to the same song for hours just to witness the joy on our faces. I mean, for what other reason would anyone willingly hear âBaby shark do do doâ play on loop on their screens for hours? It is funny, looking back, how we had fun jumping and screeching songs whilst not knowing the lyrics, the meaning and sometimes, even the music video.
The childish habit, as it turns out, never leaves us. It stays and evolves with us as we begin associating feelings and memories behind different tunes, which is what makes the song special in the first place. Whenever we listen to something similar, we are transported back in time, back to the same emotions we felt when we first heard it. âFirework’ by Katy Perry used to be a jam for pretty much everyone back in 2010, and now, when the song plays, I am instantly back on that restaurant porch in Goa. I can almost see the orange sunset, feel the chilly wind, and hear the music through the tiny radio from the corner. That was the night I had decided, very bravely and very badly, that it was the right time to attempt dancing in public for the first time. The memory of the younger version of me is so vivid that, honestly, I don’t even have to try to picture it. The song just does it for me.
Beyond memories, there is also the comfort of predictability. We might not know the technical elements of a song, but we will surely know when the drop is coming. We know the huskiness in the singerâs voice at that one line, and the mood that the song is trying to convey to us. After five listens or less, we are able to file a song under a certain feeling so that whenever we want to feel it, or already do, we know exactly which song will hit the spot. We anticipate the hook, and when it arrives right on cue, satisfaction and dopamine floods in. It fills the exact void we wanted to be filled.
And have you ever hit âplayâ, sunk into your comfortable bed or chair, and started to direct an entire music video for a song? As soon as you relax, you are either saving kids in a zombie apocalypse, or replaying scenarios with your crush, or even reliving moments from your life which you desperately wish to go back to. The song becomes a stage for your mind to perform.
This habit isn’t always solitary. Sometimes, replaying happens best when youâre with your friends or family, like a road trip where the whole car yells “one more time” the second the song ends. There’s a particular joy in a shared chorus, in knowing that everyone around you is hitting the same beat at the same second. The reason why they are hitting the notes might be personal, yet somehow, the shared emotion behind it doesn’t require explaining.
If I had to be honest, this joy does have its limits. We have all had a song we loved so much, played so relentlessly, that we eventually wore it out completely. It gets to a point where you cannot hear the opening notes without wanting to change the radio station.
Yet, it is also worth noting that this whole habit isn’t reserved for the upbeat and the danceable ones. Sappy, sad songs get replayed just as often but for another reason. Sometimes you want to feel something fully and on purpose, and hitting replay on a song that makes your chest ache is really just giving yourself permission to feel it one more time on your own terms.
So, the next time someone judges you for listening to the same song for the hundredth time, donât let them get under your skin. They might secretly have a song that they’re playing for the 50th time too.