The late musician Mitch Lucker once said, "keep listening to music. It gets you through everything." I think that everyone who has ever listened to a song that seemed to speak to them and their unique situation feels that on an indescribable, personal level. And I have an unpopular opinion as far as someone's favorite song goes.

"What's your favorite song?" is not an easily answered question (especially if you're talking to a potential love interest). In fact, it can make or break your opinion of someone sometimes. And I think that it's rare to get an honest answer from anybody. Most of the time, we panic at hearing this question and say a song that sounds "cool". But I don't think that cool song is your favorite. I think your favorite song is the one that tells your heart's story.

Your favorite song is the one you only listen to when you're by yourself because you'll cry whenever you hear it or get so angry that you can't have casual conversation. It's that song that you found while you were tuning your radio during the rock bottom of your life. The song you thought God played on the radio for you.

Your favorite song is the one that hurts so good. It's the song that makes you beat on the steering wheel in anger or bite your lip and cry. And I know how that feels. Personally, "Mercy" by Brett Young, "Heart Like Mine" by Miranda Lambert, and "Love Triangle" by RaeLynn are three that can really get the tears flowing if it's been a rough day.

But why? Why are these the kinds of songs that I think are our favorites? Because it's music that understands you even when nobody else does. When Mama, boyfriend, or best friend aren't available to hear you vent all your troubles. Or when Mama, boyfriend, or best friend are the reason for your troubles.

Scientifically, music feels so good because of our brain's reward pathway. According to an article on www.psychologytoday.com written by Kimberly Sena Moore Ph.D. titled "Why Listening to Music Makes Us Feel Good" there was a study done by McGill University in Canada to see why music feels good. And it's dopamine.

In the study, eight participants listened to different music in different enviornments and were given PET and fMRI scans. The scans showed the hormone that was released and the brain structures that were active. And basically, our brains expect to feel good from music and in fact do, so dopamine (the reward hormone) is released.

So, music does make us feel good even if the song is about the things that hurt us the most.

Even if you think your favorite song is "The Middle" by Zedd, I know you have a song hiding in your playlist that has seen your tears. And that's the song that knows more about you than any song played at the club ever will. It's okay to blast that song through your speakers. God played that song for you at exactly the moment you needed to hear it. He knew your heart was a little too broken beyond what a good venting session could repair. And good heavens, didn't it hurt so good?

Cover Photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-blur-brick-wall...