Feelings & music

[TheMindzI]

I was talking with a friend of mine about feelings and the way they inspire musicians. I've noticed that 99% of the songs I like are expressing negative feelings (rage, hate, bitterness, etc..). I insisted that everyone feels more like expressing their feelings when they are in a bad mood, and they are far better on doing it while depressed. She'd never thought about it before.. (I'm not the pessimistic kind of guy but I love that kind of music. It doesn't quite have any negative effects on me). So what do u think?

 

[Obyeybyeogone]

I'm kind of weird in that I like feeling feelings be they good or bad. I enjoy feeling fear, it's exciting a lot of times, sometimes even feeling depressed is a nice change from feeling bored. Happiness is usually a shortlived feeling for me that comes from a realization that I don't have any obligations for a full week.

 

[TheMindzI]

Yeah but how are feelings associated with music? Why musicians are mostly inspired of negative feelings? And what effect does their music have on you?

 

[Misanthrope]

As much as i grew to hate the tortured artist Cliche, i grew up to become one myself...there is just an uncontrolabe urge to do things when im a bit better or before getting down im racing all the time and i make new melodies, build new candences, think of new harmonies and box harmonies ( Dorky term i created, like in the blues box positions, i use harmony box positions usually a mayor scale starting from the 1st grade 3 notes per string with a minot scale starting from the 1st grade 3 notes per string wich root is the mayor third of the fist scale...sometimes the bass as another minor scale from first 3 per string then the minor third grade of that playing a mayor scale then the fifth grade scale of that playing another minor scale ) etc.

Sorry i did this a little technical but that i just thought in like 5 minutes and then got really down...

 

[lumen]

Happiness generally isn't self-destructive. You can express it with a smile or a hug or a kiss, or by just letting loose and having fun.

But negative emotions want to be channeled so they don't get out of control and hurt someone. Sometimes in writing a song you can take the negativity outside of yourself and express it without hurting yourself, so it doesn't eat you up inside. And if you've written a song that you think is good, then you've turned all that negativity into something positive.

Basically I write about anger and sadness as a form of catharsis, but I know it doesn't work that way for everyone.

 

[brightoffski]

Yeah, I partake in plenty of music (most of us here obviously listen to it) which is considered riddled with 'negative' emotions. This always attracts light hearted criticism from some of my friends/family... I kind of wonder why these emotions we speak of are so easily seen as negative.
I think that music such as this has obviously not directly taught me how to deal with things like the black dog, but I suspect it has been significant in helping me sort of extrapolate a way to get myself through and know roughly when I need to talk to someone... blah!

So I reckon it's all kewl anyway

 

[Malaclypse]

i think you just don't feel the urge to express beautiful feelings like joy, love etc. like you do when you are angered or whatever. if happy, you just live your life in comfort and peace with yourself and your surroundings, while if sad, you need to express it somehow...

 

[musicholic]

I have always wondered why the best music often has the most negative lyrics. It is rare for me to hear something that has uplifting words combined with good music. Maybe the idea of a "tortured artist" is true after all.

 

[YaYo]

i find it far easier to write something in a minor scale than in a major scale. Major just seems soo limited. But maybe thats just coz of my personal tastes?

and i think its easier to let the creative juices flow when your sad

when im happy and i play guitar theres nowhere to go, i dont get happier from writing a cool riff so i never keep them...
when im sad however writing a good riff can have a great effect on me so i tend to know when i have a good riff and i keep it, but who knows why?



happiness must be savoured, sadness needs to be expressed

 

[D Mullholand]

Originally posted by Oyo
I'm kind of weird in that I like feeling feelings be they good or bad.

Hey ! A soul mate ! Yeah, I've become like this recently too, it's fun to step outside the feeling and just see it as a colored sphere from the side. That may be an exaggeration - you can never totally leave your state of mind, but in a way it's kind of cool to taste those various feelings.

Happiness is usually a shortlived feeling for me that comes from a realization that I don't have any obligations for a full week.

And again, I agree. And that is called laziness too, but fuck it all !

I disagree about the original statement about negative music. And I'm talking from my own experience - I feel inspired to improvise music or to write lyrics when I have a strong mood. And this mood doesn't have to be negative or depressed. I have found out some months ago that I can be inspired by almost everything around me. I started seeing everything differently, seeing more beauty and depth in the surroundings and hearing more music in everything. Any little detail, even a random word said or a random written message on the wall or on the TV can bring its own special aura, and when I succeed to keep it with me until I arrive home and reach the piano or the guitar, the best music always comes out then.

Negative music is as inspiring as positive music is ! I get immense feelings of joy and upliftment (a word ?) from "Warm Sporran" by Jethro Tull, and I can feel true sorrow and desolation from "The Light at the End of the World" (the song) by My Dying Bride... But afterwards, any good music leaves me filled and inspired.

Most people who write music or something else only to channel their depression sooner or later leave it, when their life becomes more filled. It's when you can grab something outside yourself, merge it with a part of yourself, and create something from it, no matter what color your mood is, if the mood is strong, then you're on the right way. I've had only one more-or-less serious depression period during the last 3 or 4 years - I'm mostly a happy fellow ! I'd never halt and think about shit like suicide now. There must be something profoundly wrong about me, no ?

D Mullholand