I’m sure the majority of millennials today have heard the new pop song “Closer” by the Chainsmokers. Most people think it is a great song; it has held number one on the Billboard Top 100 list for awhile now and it is always on the radio. I do enjoy it, but I noticed one of my best friends has taken it to the extreme. She listens to it for hours straight on repeat and she never gets tired of it. I thought she was absolutely crazy, but then I realized what an amazing phenomenon this was.

How does music make us feel so good? How do some pop songs today hit us so deep and make us obessed? I have had my fair share of song binges: from Carrie Underwood songs to Rascal Flatts to Five For Fighting to Adele, and I have realized that every upbeat song is fun, but the songs I have become obsessed with are the songs I can picture in my mind. I fall in love with a song when I can fall in love with the story. When I start making up music videos in my head and when I start wanting to be a part of that song, that is when I know that song has my heart.

My friend one day, about a week ago, asked me a question as she was pulling out her headphones; she said “So why do you think this happened, how did she not talk to him for four years?” I had no clue what she was talking about until I put the question together with the lyrics of her favorite song and then I gave her the most confused “Girl I don’t know, why do you care?” To that she responded “I just want to know...I love this story, I want to know more.”

She started looking up the meaning behind the lyrics. I continued to think she was insane until I realized this was her Carrie Underwood song. Now I never thought a pop song with this eclectic vibe could tug on the heartstrings, but I began supporting her efforts to decode the lyrics and it became very interesting. It was amazing to watch her get excited when she thought about how this would play out in a music video. She told me she wanted the whole story and I encouraged her to just write out her own, to fill in the gaps the story was missing. She thought I was kidding and teasing her but not more than an hour later two pages were filled with the backstory of these characters.

The story of love being lost, then found for a second and then lost again touched her. To her, this song is of attraction and forbidden love. It is about memories and the good times you have with those you care about. It is more than just a good beat to her, and although that song doesn’t touch me on that level, others do and it is the most incredible thing. The songs that touch us are different for everyone, but when you find your's it creates this heart pounding, hair raising sensation that only you feel, and that is proof of our individuality.

She then went off on how the music video to this song would look and it was the kind of excitement a child has when he knows exactly what to paint in art. It was beautiful.

Music is supposed to make us feel good; songs are written for relatability to their audiences and since we are all so different we all relate on a deep level to different songs because of that combination of the story and the mood that beat puts us in. But as my friend and I know from experience, if a piece of music grabs you in any way go with it. There is no price you can put on something that enhances your imagination, takes your mind of the stresses of everyday life for a moment and makes you happy.