Have you ever found yourself listening to a musician or a specific song and then suddenly out of no-where your mood or mindset changes?

Well you most likely answered yes, and this is because music has the power to alter our emotional perceptions and mindsets. Specific genres of music can dictate how we feel and how we perceive things. For example, if your depressed because your significant other broke your heart and you decide to listen to depressing music that music is more than likely going to make you even more depressed. The same would go if the music and scenario were swapped with more joyful and upbeat vibe, the “happy” music would heighten your positive emotions. An interesting study I found really goes into detail on the effects music has on our emotions. That study can be found here.

The reason I’m discussing music and its correlation with emotion is because while searching through the DS106 Assignment bank I stumbled across an assignment labeled, “How Does a Song Make you Feel?” This really got me thinking about this correlation and how I myself perceived and experienced music. The task for the assignment was simple, select a song and describe how it makes you feel. At first I wasn’t sure what song to choose but eventually I decided to analyze “Repeat Stuff”, performed by Bo Burnham. For anyone unfamiliar with Bo Burnham you can learn more about him here.

The song is performed as a comedy but really has a deeper meaning behind it as it describes how today’s music industry is a shell of its former self and how it now sacrifices art for generic, profit earning lyrics and themes. The song itself makes me feel two different types of emotions, one being happy and the other being enlightened. Bo Burnham is one of my favorite comics and every single one of his songs makes me laugh and think. They make me laugh because the songs themselves are comedic but they also make me think because almost every single one of his songs have a deeper more intellectual meaning behind it.

Check out the song for yourself here and comment below how it makes you feel.

My final assignment for the assignment bank was to pick a song and explain what the song makes you feel. Here is my tweet regarding the assignment! Look at the full description of the assignment here.

For this song, I think about how you can never give up and should always keep fightinghttps://t.co/GVwul3stFk#WritingAssignments #WritingAssignments2042 #ds106

— Alexis (@Alexis54552906) September 5, 2018

I couldn’t complete the assignment entirely with the letter quota on twitter, so I will explain here. I suffer from a nerve disease called CRPS. I am in constant pain 24/7. Anytime that I feel like I can’t do it anymore or can’t do the day, I put this song on and put it up to the highest volume.

If you are having trouble one day, listen to this song by Bishop it’ll brighten your mood!!!

My last assignment bank writing assignment for this week was worth 1 and 1/2 stars and it was called How does a song make you feel?

“Choose a song that elects a certain feeling within you. Copy the youtube/soundcloud URL to a Twitter post, and tell us what feelings this song brings you. Does it make you happy? sad? pumped? seductive? strong? let us know your feelings while listening to the song! You can add things such ” at :23 seconds, the hook dropped and it made me want to flail my arms around and scream”. Have fun with this!!”

Here is my tweet:

I think about how fast life is &enjoying it all when I play this. https://t.co/2K7JNfpKtc#WritingAssignments #WritingAssignments2042 #ds106

— Jordan Pamlanye (@PamlanyeJordan) September 14, 2017

I love the idea of this assignment, but executing the goal of it in only a 140 character tweet was a little impractical, so I will add some of those thoughts here in this blog post instead!

The song I chose was “Sixteen” a song off Thomas Rhett’s new album called Life Changes. I chose this song first because it is one of my new favorites. Secondly, I love this song’s lyrics. It just reminds me how quickly life can pass you by when you are wishing to be older and wishing for the future. I think we all have a tendency to wish away some of the precious moments in life because we are so excited for the future. This song is a little reminder to take your time living life in the moment. I highly recommend this song to anyone who needs a reminder of treasuring life’s precious moments.

This song is relatively new to my playlist but I feel like its definitely up there in my top 10.  The way it starts off with the beat slowly coming in is just really dope in my opinion, and then of course the rest of the instrumental gets me so hype, it’s a very unique beat that I haven’t heard in many songs before which is part of it’s appeal for me.  I have never been a Kid Cudi fan either but this might have changed my mind.  “Too busy riding my own waves” is a line from the chorus that just really stuck with me.  The song itself is about being yourself and not being afraid to do and be who you want, you don’t have to worry about what others think of you.  This has been done before but I not in as stylish of a manner as this. Check it out!

For the 2 point writing assignment, “How Does a Song Make You Feel?”, I had to choose a song and twitter a summary of what I felt from listening to the song.

I feel remorseful whenever I hear this song. We can cause pain to those closest to us if we aren't careful. #ds106https://t.co/7dHK3qYCzF

— William Schd (003) (@wbschd) February 4, 2017

I feel remorse when I hear this song, as it reminds me of how I’ve hurt people I never should have in the past (Either intentionally or unintentionally). It can feel like a natural response in some moments to lash out at people when you feel wronged or unjustly hurt, but I’ve had to learn the hard way over time that my problems stem from myself. As change is the only constant in the world, the nearest thing to a constant which I can control is my reaction whenever negative or emotionally charged situations present themselves to me. While I’m not necessarily a fan of ballads in general, I found the simplicity of this song instrumentally and the emphasis on a single vocal delivery of the lyrics to make me feel remorse for past actions, but also encouraged that I can recognize how I’ve changed the way I perceive my own actions towards other people. Learning from your mistakes is always powerful. I would rank this assignment as easy and enjoyable!

https://t.co/NvFB3OZidp

This song makes me happy no matter what time of day it is or what place im in, Love it! #ds106

— Michael Ryan (@mjryanonline) February 1, 2017

This post is dedicated to the song I heard on my first day of Secret Agent School. I still remember it like it was yesterday. We were all lined up for our first practice mission, only to realize that our first mission was to watch the entire season of Death Note in one sitting. It was a harrowing experience, but one that I’ll never forget. The moments of bonding I had with the other agents after six hours of riveting, agonizing suspense will stay with me for the rest of my life. I commemorate that initiation by setting “L’s theme” as my ringtone. Every time I get a new mission, I’m reminded of my first day.

If any of the other agents are out there reading this, keep your heads up. Well, I guess keep your heads down because you don’t want anyone to recognize you… but you know what I mean.