Okay 'fess up: do you get goosebumps?

Chrissy

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Do you get goosebumps from music?

Do you cry? I don't mean because you can relate to a lyric, though that happens to me too, sometimes.

I mean purely because of the music, the notes, the sound of the voice or the instrument. The change from one chord or one key to the next. (The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift... Yup, that's one of those songs, for me. I get goosebumps typing about it, for crying out loud.)

And if so, does anyone know why this happens? Is there is a scientific reason? I know for a fact that some people never get goosebumps (and made fun of mine besides! :eek:).

Why do some people get these overwhelming physical and/or emotional responses?
 
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Gringa

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Yes I get goosebumps, cry, dance, whirl and spin around. A wild animal. Primal. Could be the heartbeat. Have no idea why and have wondered myself.
 

Chrissy

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lol Gringa!

Okay, here's a perfect example:

This song is absolutely cheesy as all get out (in my opinion). To boot, it's technically being sung by a Disney cartoon character (which I loathe on principle) but I think the actual artist's voice is fabulous... especially if you like that Broadway-ish talking-singing style (which I don't, but anyway).

I heard it on the radio, recently. It's at exactly 1:00 on the link when she goes from the last line/notes of the bridge to the first line/notes of the chorus, and that's when my throat swells up and I'm crying.

Let it go? Let WHAT go? Seriously. I want to slap myself. :D
 
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Xelebes

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There are some intervals that get me. Songs and tracks that establish a strong sense of place (use of holophonics to cause the music to move around in the soundfield) do a lot for me. Breaks from the late 90s tended to do this very well. Trance from the relative short period of 1993-1995 did this too. Techno and disco recently has been taking this up pretty recently and it is boatloads of awesome.

As for specific word patterns, the effect is a lot weaker and a bit harder to pin down.
 

Maze Runner

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Do you get goosebumps from music?

Do you cry? I don't mean because you can relate to a lyric, though that happens to me too, sometimes.

I mean purely because of the music, the notes, the sound of the voice or the instrument. The change from one chord or one key to the next. (The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift... Yup, that's one of those songs, for me. I get goosebumps typing about it, for crying out loud.)

And if so, does anyone know why this happens? Is there is a scientific reason? I know for a fact that some people never get goosebumps (and made fun of mine besides! :eek:).

Why do some people get these overwhelming physical and/or emotional responses?


For me, it's too big. It's all of those things. Do I get goosebumps from music? I'm sure it's happened. Have I cried? Many Times. I've also felt extreme joy and excitement. Are there scientific reasons for it? I'm sure. The tension, the building, the release, the groove you fall into. The lyrics that hit you right where you live. It's guttural, animals respond to it. The birds will even harmonize with it, if it's catchy enough.
 

poetinahat

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Yes. It feels like I've got an exposed nerve.

For me, it's usually because of a particularly beautiful chord change, which might be from a major to a minor/seventh/diminished or some variant, or the other way around. or a release of long-built tension. Or a sudden swell of volume on top of a chord change.

There are many, but here are a few of the songs that give me shivers:

- Ray Charles' Hey Now
- Led Zeppelin's Ten Years Gone
- Ella Fitzgerald's I Loves You Porgy
- Grace Jones' Williams Blood
- George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
- Joe Jackson's Slow Song
- Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight
- X's The Hungry Wolf
-
Joy Division's Decades
-
The Smiths' How Soon is Now
- Feed the Birds
, from Mary Poppins
Why? I believe there must be identifiable elements or triggers that can make it happen. But I also think that people react to different ones, and with different intensity.

I also think that two of the triggers are opposites: the thrill of the unexpected twist, and the relief of the anticipated resolution.

So, sometimes, we grow to love a passage we know, but we also delight at the new. I think the one thing that ultimately doesn't work is reliance on a single formula.
 
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Chrissy

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Xelebes - very cool. Techno doesn't give me the goosebumps but it does make me want to move!

Bookmaker - I will have to more closely observe my dog and cat while playing music. They just seem... bored. ;)

poetinahat - you nailed it. And gave me some new songs for my current playlist besides!

Re: "thrill of the unexpected twist" - I think that's what happened in that song I linked. The minor crescendo built and I guess I was expecting the swell of volume at the resolution, but instead it was simply a pure major note with just the tinkling of the piano--it was still a resolution of the swell but in such a new, perfect way.

As far as different people reacting differently--yes, indeed. I guess I wonder why it crosses over into such physical manifestations for some people, whereas everyone seems to get the more "normal" emotional reactions... like, "Oh what an awesome song." Or maybe goosebumps and exposed nerve endings and crying are also emotional. (And by crying I don't mean, I'm so sad or happy that I'm crying... I mean the tears just leak out of my stinkin' eyes sometimes. So embarrassing.)
 

Maze Runner

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They probably have different taste than you do. Why not let them pick something out once in a while?

"As far as different people reacting differently--yes, indeed. I guess I wonder why it crosses over into such physical manifestations for some people, whereas everyone seems to get the more "normal" emotional reactions... like, "Oh what an awesome song." Or maybe goosebumps and exposed nerve endings and crying are also emotional. (And by crying I don't mean, I'm so sad or happy that I'm crying... I mean the tears just leak out of my stinkin' eyes sometimes. So embarrassing.)"

Most people I've known- I can think of exactly two exceptions- do love music. How strongly they respond may depend on personalities, also the specific music they're listening to. I wonder, Chrissy, if you're the type of person who cries or reacts strongly in another way when you're watching a movie or reading a book. Speaking for myself, I am. But for me, music has always been a direct hit. The mind doesn't have to process. As you pointed out in your OP, you don't even need words.


Poetinahat: "I also think that two of the triggers are opposites: the thrill of the unexpected twist, and the relief of the anticipated resolution.

So, sometimes, we grow to love a passage we know, but we also delight at the new. I think the one thing that ultimately doesn't work is reliance on a single formula."

I think this is very true. In other areas as well, we love the familiar, the reassuring, but welcome a variation, that which unsettles us, challenges us. I listen to a lot of instrumental jazz which is all about interpretation. If I know the tune, I can much more appreciate what's being done with it than if I don't.
 
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Chrissy

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They probably have different taste than you do. Why not let them pick something out once in a while?
:D My dog just gave you a rep point.

Most people I've known- I can think of exactly two exceptions- do love music. How strongly they respond may depend on personalities, also the specific music they're listening to. I wonder, Chrissy, if you're the type of person who cries or reacts strongly in another way when you're watching a movie or reading a book. Speaking for myself, I am. But for me, music has always been a direct hit. The mind doesn't have to process. As you pointed out in your OP, you don't even need words.
In movies & books, I will definitely cry if something is touching. But that's because of combinations of words and situations (and with movies, facial expressions... if an actor is really authentic at crying, I'll start crying with him immediately).

But I agree, music is a direct hit. I find it amazing that strings of sounds can do that to us.
 

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Oh absolutely. I actually have songs that I love crying to, it's a very cathartic experience.
 

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The scene 'Kara Remembers' from BSG Season 4 - just the snippet, not the full version on the sountrack CD.

Powerful scene. I love listening to that track. The moment when the disparate notes come together into the opening bars of All Along the Watchtower gives me chills.
 

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This one gets me every time.

It's background music for "Doctor Who." Ever since the reboot they've used the compositions of Murray Gold, who is so brilliant they've had entire proms of them (big huge concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in London).

This one is called "This is Gallifrey" and is about lost worlds and lost childhood and lost friendships. There's an oboe solo starting at 1:14 that breaks my heart.

Actually, here's the version they played at the Proms with atmospheric Doctor Who footage and Derek Jacobi!
 
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Chrissy

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Okay that's it.

Thanks to the above posts and links, I have decided. I shall, henceforth, with neither apology nor embarrassment, wholeheartedly embrace the goosebumps and the weeping.

:D
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I can't think of any songs that give me goosebumps.

And I don't listen to anything that will make me cry. I don't like being made sad. I can do that enough on my own without music to intensify that feeling.

I need music to make me happy, to uplift me, to remind me of the good times in life.
 

Chrissy

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I think that is a very cool perspective--to select songs to influence your mood to what you desire it to be... I have never had much luck with that. If I feel a certain way, I tend to choose music that will validate those feelings.

Then again, if you listened to my playlist you would probably give me the side eye. It makes no emotional sense. Metallica, Rihanna, Alexandre Desplat, Black Crows, Coldplay, AWOLNATION, Foreigner, 50 Cent, Sia, Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Soundgarden, Muse, Simply Red, Alice in Chains, Eminem, Michael Jackson, Switchfoot, Ellie Gouding, Led Zeppelin, Tracey Chapman, Goo Goo Dolls... and Celine Dion, of course.

I think I might be addicted to whiplash.
 
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Maze Runner

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I don't know that I've ever listened to a certain music, or kind of music to direct my mood one way or another. But there are times when I can't relate, can't get swing or rock, or up, energetic music.

Also, times when to willingly listen to sad music would amount to self-destructive behavior.
 

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lol Gringa!

Okay, here's a perfect example:

This song is absolutely cheesy as all get out (in my opinion). To boot, it's technically being sung by a Disney cartoon character (which I loathe on principle) but I think the actual artist's voice is fabulous... especially if you like that Broadway-ish talking-singing style (which I don't, but anyway).

I heard it on the radio, recently. It's at exactly 1:00 on the link when she goes from the last line/notes of the bridge to the first line/notes of the chorus, and that's when my throat swells up and I'm crying.

Let it go? Let WHAT go? Seriously. I want to slap myself. :D


Yes! I certainly have. This song, in particular, gave me goosebumps while I watched the movie with my daughter in the theater. I couldn't even explain why. There was a tightness in my chest, goosebumps and tears. It wasn't even the plot of the movie or the words. It was...something about the conviction in her voice.

The song "Some Nights" by Fun also. Especially while watching the video. The singer just is so into the words and music...he MEANS them. And that's what gave me chills.
 

Chrissy

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Fun is soooo brilliant!

I've thought about that song "Let It Go" a lot lately. I think I must confess that there something going on, with me, with that phrase. To get totally psychoanalytical about it, I think maybe there is something, or some things, that my psyche wants to let to go of. And the song is giving me permission. Or something.

/end psychobabble :D
 

Chrissy

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Alrighty then bookmaker, let me tell you how I feel about derails on threads:

American Idol is a complete disaster this season!

You cannot sing a Coldplay song unless you are better than Coldplay.

And speaking of cold, isn't it supposed to be spring now? I've had it with the wind chill.

Are seasons capitalized, or not? I can never remember.

I think memory loss runs in my family.

On my dad's side.

My dad is really cool.

Cool! Cold! Coldplay! Awesome. They give me goosebumps.

And now we're back on topic.

Or close enough.

:D
 
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Chrissy

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I'm glad. Please, derail at will. :)

And as to the deleted post, I have used Pandora, and it's pretty decent, but I am a Grooveshark fan. You can select a genre, or specific songs, or radio stations, and you can make "playlists" on top of making a master "collection" on top of being able to have a "favorites" subset. Then you can sort any or all of the above based on Artist, Date Added, Song Title. Grooveshark will also give you recommendations based upon what you've listened to, and I've found songs I forgot I loved that way.

I probably sound like a sad, misguided newb to people are more savvy with internet music-playing options, but I'm pretty happy with Grooveshark. A fairly cheap monthly subscription eliminates the commercials.
 

Chrissy

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This is one of the doozies, for me. Auditory and visual.... warning, overload may cause leakage! :D
 

Cranky

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There are songs that do that to me, for sure. The most recent one is NOT a sad song...it's Happy, by Pharrell. I get all teary-eyed, especially at the hook, but all the lyrics speak to me. I think it's a very powerful song. Kid's movies always seem to have 'em, don't they? :D

ETA: I do have to add it's not *just* the lyrics (re-read the OP, lol). I can feel it...I believe Pharrell as he's singing. The background vocals add a lot, too, though. Especially when they're singing "happy, happy, happy" at the bridge, and it just gets faster and higher and more voices get added (or louder, whichever).
 
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