I didn’t used to think of myself as a person who listened to the same song over and over again in emotionally trying times. A good look through my actual listening habits forced me to re-evaluate that image of myself, because…I actually do that a lot. My usual music habit is still to put my entire playlist on Shuffle and skip over anything that doesn’t suit my mood, but when my mind is sore and my heart ailing, it’s time for something that feels right, 15 or 20 times. Lately it’s Zard’s version of what is better known as Dragonball GT’s theme song by Field of View, but over the years, it’s been many, many different things.
It’s emotional stimming.
And the list of my stim-songs has a lot in common, enough to hold together thematically as a playlist. So here it is, for your enjoyment and to see if someone can tell me what, exactly, unites all of these pieces in musical terms. And here it is on YouTube.
- Zard – Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku
- Veronicas – 4Ever
- Howl and J – Perhaps Love
- Keane – Somewhere Only We Know
- The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey – Closer
- Lenka – Dangerous and Sweet
- Ingrid Michaelson – The Way I Am
- Tristan Prettyman – Love Love Love
- Cori Yarckin – Together We’ll Make a Promise
- Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
- Dani Marcus – Every Side of Me
- Saybia – It’s OK Love
- Leigh Nash – Ocean Size Love
- Vanessa Carleton – A Thousand Miles
- The Chainsmokers – Paris
- Bella Morte – Ghost Land
- VNV Nation – Illusion
- Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
- Taylor Swift – Cold as You
- Keane – Your Eyes Open
- Irán Castillo – Girando en el tiempo
- Belanova – Dulce fantasía
- Kacey Musgraves – Follow your Arrow
- Sabrina Carpenter – The Middle of Starting Over
The problem I have listening to songs in repetition in emotionally trying times is that the songs thereafter become “connected” to that trauma…and when I try to move on, I can’t listen to those songs again. 🙁
As far as connections go, a lot of these songs have lyrical themes that deal with broken relationships and starting over. I’d be curious if there are any other subtle themes uniting the songs…there might be something I haven’t noticed.
I know that feeling well. I often have to be quite sparing with former favorites when something like that happens, or the association will return. It takes a long time for such unwelcome connections to fade.
That’s the thing–the thematic relationship is definitely there, but I think the music I obsess over also has musical qualities in common. Certain rhythm patterns, or something. I lack the vocabulary required to really describe what I’m thinking.