Sad songs help people grieve
Adele, Radiohead and Muse can help people come to terms with the loss of a loved one better than more upbeat bands, say academics
Sad songs help people deal with grief more effectively than listening to happy music, a university study has found.
Academics discovered listening to the likes of Adele, Radiohead and Muse can help people come to terms with the loss of a loved one better than more upbeat bands.
"Sadness often involves emotional loss, which is not a problem which can be solved or reversed. The only real way to move on and feel better is by accepting the situation, and we found that people were able to do this by listening to sad music, but not so much by listening to happy music"
Dr Annemieke Van den Tol
De Montfort University boffins reckon putting on more depressing music evokes sad emotions which can ultimately lead to feelings of consolation.
Dr Annemieke Van den Tol led two separate studies, involving around 450 people, looking at listening habits of those going through a range of emotional circumstances.
The team found that people tended to turn to more lamentful tracks during a time of crisis -which helped them move on sooner.
Dr Van den Tol said: "Sadness often involves emotional loss, which is not a problem which can be solved or reversed.
Thom Yorke, Radiohead's frontman, performing in 2010 Photo: REX
"The only real way to move on and feel better is by accepting the situation, and we found that people were able to do this by listening to sad music, but not so much by listening to happy music."
Participants were allowed to list their "sad music" choices as any songs or pieces of music they believed to sound sad.
One of the studies looked at why people chose to listen to sad music when feeling down.
More people agreed with the assertion they listened to sad music for consolation rather than happy music when negative feeling were "overwhelming".
Many respondents said sad music helped them cope with a negative situation, helped them cry and deal with grief.
Data showed the emotional involvement with sad music helped listeners to cope with and accept feelings of loss, whereas happy music was not linked to dealing with grief.
"Ultimately, this study shows that even though many people prefer listening to happy music in general, they find sad music helps them deal with sadness more often. By connection to the sad emotions in the music, they are able to turn negative emotions into something more peaceful, allowing them to move on and accept these"
Dr Van den Tol
Dr Van den Tol added: "Ultimately, this study shows that even though many people prefer listening to happy music in general, they find sad music helps them deal with sadness more often.
"By connection to the sad emotions in the music, they are able to turn negative emotions into something more peaceful, allowing them to move on and accept these."
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