When I was in high school, I noticed that my younger brother would wake up really grumpy each morning. No matter how hard I tried to cheer him up, it would take him some time to actually be approachable and of good humor. This would drive me crazy. How could you be in a bad mood already, when the day has just begun? You see, I always would wake up with a cheerful and good disposition, ready to go and seize the day. How could we be so different?
Our parents had given him one of these old fashioned, low
tech, folding alarm clocks, which you would have to manually wind up every
night:
It ticked pretty loudly too, which he found very soothing
when he would go to sleep at night.
However, waking up to it was a whole other story. It was the opposite of soothing. It had an excruciatingly loud, shrill
bell! Absolutely horrible. Just thinking about it makes my skin
crawl. Like that awful sound of nails
scratching a chalkboard. Grrrrr. No wonder he would wake up grumpy!
Down the hall in my bedroom, it was a different story. I had used some of the pocket money I earned
while babysitting and had treated myself to an AM-FM alarm clock radio!
It was always tuned to my favorite FM rock music radio
station! At night, I would set the 30-minute timer to fall asleep listing to my favorite DJ playing the latest rock
and roll tunes. And the next morning, I
would wake up to more upbeat tunes!
Studies have shown, that music makes us happy and that music
is good for us. I attribute this to me
waking up cheerful and happy.
When I realized this, I decided rather than cajoling my grumpy brother into a better disposition each morning, I took it upon myself to wake him up with music too. Since he did not have a radio but a record player, I would make a beeline to his room as soon as I woke up, and put on one of his music records. It worked like a charm. Mr. Grumpy was now cheerful in the morning!
Music not only improves our mood but can also improve brain
function. It helps calm you down when you are stressed. It can boost your
immune system to speed up recovery time when you are ill. It even can help
boost your creativity.
Music can also bring people together. One of the things my husband confesses made him
fall in love with me was when I shared with him my latest music purchases. “What did you buy?” - “Best of the Doobie
Brothers; Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic – Waltzes; Best of
the Doors”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders, economic uncertainty, social distancing, fear and worry about one’s own health and the health of loved ones, people are more stressed than ever. One of the ways you can take care of yourself, your friends, co-workers, and others is to spread some cheer with music. The right song can lower stress levels and calm those around you. Share your favorite songs!
So, as a public service to help everyone relax and chill out,
here is a partial playlist of favorite songs, or my therapy! Let me know in the comments below, which one helped you wake up, cheered you up, make you want to dance, let you breathe again, or
mellow you out.
The Puppy Song – Harry Nilsson
La Donna E Mobile (Rigoletto) – Luciano Pavarotti
Eye in the Sky – The Alan Parsons Project
Tighter and Tighter – Alive and Kicking
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
The Blue Danube Waltz - Johann Strauss Jr
All that Meat and no Potatoes – Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton
Monday Monday – The Mamas and The Papas
Riders on the Storm – The Doors
Scarborough Fair – Nana Mouskouri
Smooth – Santana featuring Rob Thomas
Far Away Eyes – The Rolling Stones
The Thrill is Gone – B.B. King, Eric Clapton
Southern Cross – Crosby Stills & Nash
Inner City Blues – Marvin Gaye
Turkish March - Rondo Alla Turca - Mozart
You’ve made me so Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears
Great one !
ReplyDeleteMine are Uptown Funk (still?? yup!) and The Doobies :)
Also wake up to the Avener with the song Fade Out Lines.
Thanks for reading and the feedback. I'll have to add Avener to my list!
ReplyDeleteI’m genuinely impressed with your knowledge. You have great knowledge of this. It was a really attractive blog. Please keep sharing your post with us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind note, you made my day. Music always seems to have the power to transport me to a better place mentally, especially now during these stressful Covid times.
Delete