Let’s be honest: life sucks right now. And while I haven’t had it as bad as many have, the relatively minor stress the pandemic has added to my life has basically stopped Off Pitch cold. A few months of mandatory isolation may seem like the perfect opportunity for listening and writing, but for me, it’s been just the opposite. Under the best of circumstances, I’m a habitual procrastinator with perpetual writer’s block. Throw in the ever-present mental burden of a pandemic and writing upbeat music articles feels like an insurmountable task. Even listening to music has felt daunting. In pre-2020 life, I would often use music as a way to block out all the noise of the outside world. Now I miss the outside noise. Instead, I’ve found myself turning to podcasts and stand-up comedy to mimic the human interaction I’ve been missing out on.
But as I’ve adjusted to the new normal, I’ve been slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. And as I’ve begun to reacquaint myself with my Spotify account, I’ve thought a lot about how my relationship with music is affected by (and sometimes, affects) my state of mind.
In general, I like my music to reflect my mood, even if that mood is negative. Conventional wisdom might suggest that upbeat music is the best remedy for feeling down, but what can I say? I like to wallow. But it’s not just for the sake of throwing myself a pity party. Most of my favorite artists tend towards negative emotions in their writing. So the music might not sound comforting, but I get a sense of comfort from spending time with music I love.
But I’m just one man. My comfort music likely isn’t the same as yours or anyone else's. We might have totally different definitions of what “comfort music” even is. So I decided to open it up to the wonderful Off Pitch followers. Here’s what y’all said:
I have to admit, I was a little surprised by this. While I knew I wasn’t the only one who liked to listen to moody music when I’m feeling down, I was expecting the numbers to be closer. Of course, Instagram polls aren’t exactly the pinnacle of the scientific method. So I did some research.
Most of the more compelling articles were behind paywalls, but I was able to find an article on Healthline that summarizes a few studies on music and mood. There’s a lot of information here, but the part that stuck out to me was this passage:
“An earlier study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that people tend to prefer sad music when they are experiencing a deep interpersonal loss, like the end of a relationship.
The authors of that study suggested that sad music provides a substitute for the lost relationship. They compared it to the preference most people have for an empathic friend — someone who truly understands what you’re going through.”
So comfort really is the key here. While there are plenty of people who use music to lift themselves out of a funk (which, coincidentally, is an ideal genre for the task), a lot of us want that shoulder to cry on.
I love that Healthline passage for two reasons: it’s validating, and it puts into words what I think a lot of us already felt about our comfort music. Music isn’t just entertainment, or even art. It’s a friend who somehow always knows the right thing to say, whether that’s words of encouragement or consolation. And I think all of us could use a good friend in a time like this.
Lyle B.
P.S: About a week after the above poll, I did a follow-up to see if anyone else had lost their appetite for listening to music in the last few months. 89% responded that you were listening to more music during lockdown. Which makes sense. Not sure what’s going on with me.
