Lately, in my time as a young adult, I have noticed that music has made me stop and think and sometimes have a small cry if need be. At one point, music was my go to when I was feeling upset or angry, and I noticed that my choice in music always depended on my current mood. Now it has me wondering-- “Why did I choose music that matched my mood?”
A couple of years ago, there was a study done about break-ups and songs about breaking up and a correlation between the two. If you were the person who did the dumping, you listened to songs that reassured you that what you did was right. If you were the one who was dumped, you listened to songs that may have done more harm than good, as explained in the article by Huffington post called "There's a Reason You Love Sad Music After a Breakup, New Study Says." (Listen to Taylor Swift’s “Breathe” after being dumped, trust me.) It has been shown time and time again that music can affect how we feel. Another example is the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale.” In one of the episodes, something drastic happens to one of the character’s pets, and the weather (a song sent in from an artist) hit a little too close to home with the context of the story.
This also exists in movie music tracks as well. Certain scenes need a certain feel. If the director wants the audience to cry, they have the orchestra play a hauntingly sad tune. If they want the audience to feel scared, they play something suspenseful. For those who have seen the fifth "Harry Potter" movie, there is a scene where Professor Umbridge, who was spying on the headmaster of Hogwarts for the head of the wizarding governing body, goes around and corrects students’ and teachers’ behaviors. The music in the background of this was rather silly and comical. After watching the behind-the-scenes, I discovered that the sound producers when with that choice of soundtrack because they wanted to show the audience just how silly the whole thing was. There was a discussion of doing a darker theme with the music, but they felt that was a bit too much.
Music has and always will make humans feel emotions. Recently, in another study, scientists found that music is processed by the same part of the brain that language is. Music really is the language of the world.
