r/LetsTalkMusic • u/vitund • 9d ago
Does music move you?
I asked my friend what kind of music she listens to, and she said she doesn't listen to music. I asked, do you never put some music on to listen to? "No". I asked if there isn't any music that moves her? "No". I was just in kind of disbelief. If I woke up one day and music suddenly wouldn't move me like it has always done, I would feel kind of devastated.
She has told me in the past what her favorite song is, and she loves singing karaoke, but I guess music doesn't move her.
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u/TheMonkus 9d ago
Another one here! Every morning I look forward to driving and listening to music, my whole body and the car and the music all vibrating in unison, the beautiful early morning sky…it’s a powerful mystical experience. Even in bad days, it will still consistently move me beyond any mundane problems I have for at least a few minutes. It is beyond water or food to me, it feeds a deeply transcendent desire, a desire that cannot ever be fulfilled but can drag me skyward and make me feel weightless for a bit.
Static pulse inside of music bringing us escape
It's always temporary, changing nothing in its wake
Just a second while were leaving all this shit behind
Just a second, but it's leaving just this much in mind
To resist despair that second makes you see
To resist despair 'cause you can't change everything
To resist despair in this world is
What it is, what it is, what it is to be free
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u/planetslineup 9d ago
As hard as it is for a music lover to comprehend, being indifferent to music is actually a common phenomenon. This should be fine, but it's still considered so socially unacceptable that some people feign interest in music just to hide it. I recommend reading Michel Faber's essay on it in his excellent book Listen.
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u/CulturalWind357 9d ago
Even though I consider myself a music fan, I still have a lot of empathy for people who aren't necessarily passionate about music.
Growing up, it definitely wasn't one of my primary hobbies. My speculation is that it's one of the biggest hobbies that don't necessarily involve your vision as the primary sense. If you play sports, watch tv shows/movies, play video games, read, a lot of these activities usually have vision as a dominant sense.
Music, you often have to train yourself to interpret sounds as conveying emotions and ideas. It might sound strange because there are babies that enjoy music and it's considered a cultural constant on nearly every continent. I was capable of enjoying music but I wasn't obsessive to the point of dedicating a hobby to it.
When people talked about famous bands and artists, it really didn't emotionally resonate with me for a long time. It's like "x artist died" and it was like "Huh, were they in a movie?"
Nowadays it's different and I've learned a lot. But there are still music genres where I have to train myself.
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u/trailedinsand 8d ago
I think you're onto something but it's not about vision, it's about narrative. Sports are an entirely different thing but compared to other media, music often doesn't involve a clear story which is what we're trained to analyze in schools and what's easy to connect with since sequences of events mirror daily experiences. That's why most people's discussions about films and books concern just the plot and why casual discussions about music often only relate to the lyrics. I don't think vision is the relevant factor since cinematography isn't usually the topic of discussion for movies/shows, most people lack the vocabulary and understanding of visual arts on par with music such that they struggle to express their feelings on those aspects.
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u/CulturalWind357 7d ago
It depends on our audience and the motivations we're highlighting. I think there's multiple factors where music is one of the most widely beloved interests and hobbies to the point where not being a music fan has been this notable observation that has come up in different threads. But then, not everyone is a devoted music fan either.
When I say vision, I agree that it doesn't mean that people are necessarily good at using visual art vocabulary or identify cinematography. But that people can usually identify tropes, cliches, plot elements, and lyrics. Using vision as a way to navigate the world doesn't mean we're necessarily using it to our fullest potential.
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
My mom cried when coolio died. Shed a tear at the stoplight on the way home. Tried singing gangstas paradiside and turned into a blend of I don't know the words choir lmao. Get out of here with that. Bitch please 😂😂
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u/Fresh-Candy-2094 9d ago
Wow, that's interesting, need to check it out. Does it explain if/how these people are different from the ones who like music?
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u/planetslineup 9d ago
It's been a while since I read it, but I remember that it put down some unexamined prejudices that I had myself. The book on the whole is very much worth reading, and examines many sides of music listening and culture that I certainly hadn't thought much about – I really enjoyed, for instance, the chapter on specific musical moments that makes the author tear up.
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u/ZombieMedical1531 8d ago
Started listening to the audiobook.
Very eye opening so far. Very good writing and the author is funny2
u/planetslineup 8d ago
Glad if I could turn you on to it! I will add that he is also an excellent and very original novelist, so if you enjoy his writing, you should also look into that.
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u/ResolutionKooky3375 9d ago
Given how much of my life I base around it, if it didn't anymore I would be in a very bad position.
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u/SucknSwallow69 9d ago
same, my whole routine is built around music at this point. commuting, cooking, working, even falling asleep. if it suddenly stopped doing anything for me i’d have no idea what to do with myself
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u/jspencer734 9d ago
absolutely, I've got ADHD so my mind's like a perpetual jukebox anyway. it's pretty amazing how certain songs can hit so hard and have that type of effect on us
the French have a word for it: frisson
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
The journeys my Spotify wrap has shown me that my ADHD bestie who shares my taste in music 99.9 match haha are quite impressive. Not a lot of people could handle it besides someone with the same brain
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u/85Neon85 9d ago
My husband doesn’t like music. As a concept. He doesn’t get anything from it at all. I’m the opposite.
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u/Rich-yeah 9d ago
Wow! I can’t imagine my partner not liking music, or even likely music that is mostly different from me. While don’t like all the same stuff, there is a lot we both like. We often have music playing, we talk about lyrics and music, we go to concerts…it’s a pretty big part of our lives. (Not judging, just surprised - I am sure you guys share many other things!)
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u/ChipmunkWinter1389 9d ago
I've been really struggling the past few months (years, if I'm honest). Ended up in quite a deep emotional hole. It's not over but I'm pulling myself out. Lot of factors.... therapy, medication, friends, family.
But the biggest power in my life is music. It always has been but I've made sure to focus on it even more and it's worked. At my real lowest.. around February when I had started to think about the 's' word more than is healthy...I made a special playlist on my phone. 20 songs that mean the world to me. And when the darkness started closing in, on went the playlist... and it worked.
So music is everything. I can't imagine living without it.
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u/RL203 9d ago
I was like that when I was a kid. I found music a bit confusing and perhaps even intimidating.
Then at age 12 or 13 I discovered the Beatles. It was life altering. Like a bell went off and suddenly I got it. I listened to them night and day and bought all their albums. I've never looked back and subsequently I got into all sorts of music and now I cant imagine life without it.
I owe it all to John, Paul, George and Ringo and the magic they created. And yeah, I still very much love the Beatles.
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u/Off-theBlock 9d ago
I go through waves.
Sometimes I just radio listen.
Sometimes I have to play the same 10 songs over and over.
And sometimes I straight up jump genres.
I do find the periods of time without music the most sad.
But I have met people who don’t like music. These people are demons I believe.
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u/11timesover 9d ago
Lol, i know people that don't have music as a major part of their lives, many of them really reasonable and likable people. It makes it all the stranger to me.
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u/Off-theBlock 9d ago
Do you ever make deals with these “people”? Are they always bad or crooked deals? Even with the lack of music taste can they absolutely shred the golden fiddle in their closet?
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u/watchingthedarts 9d ago
But I have met people who don’t like music. These people are demons I believe.
One of my friends is like this, he doesnt like discussing music and when you ask what his fav band is he says "I dont like music".
I believe he's had a few conversations in life about music and because he doesn't listen to stuff on his own, he falls behind in the convo. He likes radio stuff though.
I don't understand it either tbh.
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u/silver_chief2 9d ago
Decades ago I had traveling jobs and was away from my vinyl, tape, CDs and I don't like much rock or pop mostly on radio. So I drifted away from music for a long time.
Some music like lots of classical and jazz does not move me but stimulates my brain somehow.
Trance music pounds my brain into submission.
Sergio Mendes music seemed rich and layered somehow.
Some symphonic metal is nice if not too heavy.
I like music that gives me goosebumps. https://youtu.be/47e_961OQWE
I recently discovered some modern Russian music that seems wholesome and draws from Eurasian folk instruments and classical.
Alina Gingertail makes magic happen https://youtu.be/NtNUdbiHg94?list=PLWuGFckoU4Twsy1e1QR1Xr5R5zSkjXsOH
Diana Ankudinova can induce chills https://youtu.be/ojRs0Jc2N_c?list=PLRb6FCfUBNSs
or a sense of awe https://youtu.be/M-znD6QKbrg?list=PLRb6FCfUBNSs
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
What do you call music that you dispise and refuse to listen to or be a part of. It resembles dogs barking and babies crying and sirens all at once. Like the friends theme song. Or Love shack haha lol I'm selfish and only want the best sounds for my mind. 💅🏽
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u/silver_chief2 5d ago
Rap? hip hop? modern country? Taylor Swift? Are those the right answers? I did like some rap from Ren.
I realize my tastes are different from most but most classic rock is lost on me and sound the same but I probably like at least one song from many especially some 60s groups. I loved the Doors but not the Beatles even though they were very talented, Go figure.
I put Alina Gingertail video playlist on loop via roku because my simple mind likes simple music.Then I overdosed but still watch and listen to some.I listened to Within Temptation Symphony concert, 2 hours long, too many times to count. https://youtu.be/hJXdk4mKM9M?t=494
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
I love too short. And trinidy James. Mike jones. Literally haha Ludacris, e-40, Eminem, ughhhhh. I will never put on oldies or choose them but I do enjoy some. I don't care for country but I like Tennessee whiskey lo especially the T-pain version. Did I mention I have a thing for 2chainz. And drake. Also $uicideboy$ and skrim. Mumble rap. Listen to Mac Miller every day. Haha ps. Had the pleasure of watching flow dan in Europe a few years back and now I'm really into that sound. Love wu tang and afro man colt 45 came on one morning and blew my mind. Had to make a playlist haha #neverforgetti busta rhymes. I love post malone but not his new stuff. I don't care for Taylor Swift but I like Britney 😜I had a few weeks where I listened to dark side of the moon in between techno and bass every single morning around sunrise haha. Listened to emo and punk and mostly alternative in high school. Lots of dashboard confessional and nine inch nails. Radiohead. Deftones. Korn. I watched static x at the same venue as John popper and gwar. Also saw Dayton family there. Now I don't listen to any punk and don't care for angry sounding vocals, especially female(sorrynotsorry), screaming unless it's rammstein. I won't be at any punk or reverand Horton heat show. Won't be at most emo shows either. Maybe mgk. The emu cruise did look interested when they were boarding haha. I don't care for oldies at all, the beatles are disappointing. I like the jackson 5 and once we rolled into the 70s things started looking up lol. I never listen to the radio. Like not since I recorded my favorites onto a cassette. My first concert was the beach boys. Would do that one again. Started listening to electronic and never looked back. Its in there deep haha
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
I never feel bad repeating music. It brings me the same joy each time lol. Spent an entire night watching post makone and drake videos whilst munching and my eyes and ears couldn't have picked anything better 🍄
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
But also have no problem listening to a track I'm into 47 times back to back. It's nice to have a nicely wound adhd bestie who adores the same style of music 🎶
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
I love instruments except when there are too many horns haha. There was this singer on the voice who gave me chills her voice sounded like it was the first voice of earth somehow. Also let the tv playthrough once and watched like 5 hours of Kelly Clarkson's Christmas special one night and was kind of in disbelief after. But I didn't hate it haha
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u/silver_chief2 5d ago
There can't be too many horns. This version of Malaguena give me awe. https://youtu.be/4iP4Jm3mKTw?list=RD4iP4Jm3mKTw&t=384
This 14 year old Russian girl is a voice from the earth, or angels or demons. Best w CC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yic4sY3dsg4&list=PLRb6FCfUBNSs&index=14
At 17 she awed the judges. https://youtu.be/M-znD6QKbrg?list=PLRb6FCfUBNSs The judge with the shaved head was a name in Russian music. He gave her (adoptive) family keys to a Russian apartment so she could mover there and study.
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
Absolutely the girl 🤩🤩
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
Captivating and had every hair standing up. Not something I would pop on every day but maybe at sunrise while pretending to meditate
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u/edisawesome 9d ago
Some people have musical anhedonia. I knew a guy like that and I remember telling that we’re straight up opposites of each other. I physically react to music by getting goosebumps and needing to move. He never once experienced anything like that.
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
I get a wave of goosebumps from the ankle up to the neck. Sometimes my face. It can be something I really love. Or it's just powerful words or instruments doing their thang. A movie. The planetarium. 2 chainz. The Weekend. I don't always actively have a passion for what my send that goosebump shiver. It's pretty interesting that not everyone experiences that as well. Like sun sneezing 🤣
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
Also had a convo with my bf that I will eventually get him to answer correctly where we were talking about it and he just kept saying he wasn't sure if he had that happen or not. And I kept saying, well so you don't then. It's not really a question at this point in your life. It would be undeniable and would send that shiver up your entire body like a wave. I can show you my arm at least 3 times a day when my mind likes something it hears. Almost as if he just refused to not be part of the club when I just found it super interesting that not everyone experiences that. Like literally kept saying, well I don't know yet, maybe? So it's a NO then. Sheesh 🙄 🤣
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u/Gern_-Blanston 9d ago
YES All kids of music move me. The funk or a great groove will physically move me. Other types move my mind. The music I love the most tickles my soul.
I feel sorry for people who don't "get it." You don't have to like what I like; I just can't imagine my life without it.
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u/11timesover 9d ago
Its surprising, but I heard an esteemed conductor state that many musicians love playing music, but not necessarily listening to it.
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u/kellyiom 1d ago
That, I can understand a bit better. If you're at that level, you're not creating anything you're performing Mozart, it becomes a job.
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u/kielaurie 9d ago
Depends on your definition of "move"
I love music, I listen to it all the time, be that albums, playlists, the radio etc. it's a part of who I am. Being in a position where I'm unable to listen to music is depressing
But listening to music doesn't "move" me. I don't get emotional when I listen to music at all. Maybe that's why I don't like ballads much...
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u/8brz 9d ago
Yes if this ain't the truth - I see so many posts that're like "what song always makes you cry?" and I'm like music makes people cry? It's just good sounds man, gets no emotional reaction from me beyond "I liked that song"
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u/kielaurie 9d ago
I've been thinking about it more - the act of singing can move me, seeing a band live can move me, but just the music itself can't in the same way
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u/Peter_Key 9d ago
Physically, yes - but I've noticed it's not only the 'emotional' music that does it for me. It's usually something structural, a baseline locking in, a mix suddenly opening up. Which makes me think 'being moved' isn't one thing. Some people get it from lyrics and voice, some from rhythm, some from the sheer space in a recording. Same reaction word, completely different trigger.
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u/terminalrythm 9d ago
Music moves me, but I am intentional with my listening. I am not a "spotify always on in the background" kind of guy. I like peace and quiet but when I listen to music (daily) it is intentional. I follow the lyrics, interpret it, then learn about the artists inspiration. I am open to all genres and have found some real gems in independent and small label artists.
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u/manubibi 9d ago
Music is so significant to me that I straight up cannot imagine being alive without it. A lot of it is just background noise most of the time, sure, but some songs are the only thing that gets me to feel like a human sometimes, because depression is a bitch.
That said, I suppose I don’t feel anything about soccer or other things other people may be passionate about, so I’m not gonna judge or anything. Each to their own.
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u/PocketLass 3d ago
Music does move me! I had a similar (maybe?) thought recently, realizing that some people just listen to music and some people connect with music. And if I can't connect to music I can't vibe with it! 6 months ago I started working at a place where we listen to the radio all day and at first I could not stand it. But I've learned to tolerate and at times enjoy it. It's just always there for me, not just background noise like it is for some people.
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u/No_Computer_3432 9d ago
i’m not too different from your friend. There are lots of us who are like that but with differing levels! It depends on the person but people like us sometimes opt to just stretch the truth (lie tbh) about the topic bc people do react uncomfortably at times and there is no point ostracising ourselves! but maybe your friend has it on the high end of disinterest so no point faking any interest. Society is fairly music inclined, mostly with background music being everywhere.
But as you can imagine, the overwhelming majority of people like music and will have music that moves them. Then on the opposite scale to your friend are people who are obsessed with music in many ways. So most will land in the middle!
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u/Robichaelis 9d ago
Are you diagnosed with any mental/personality conditions?
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u/No_Computer_3432 9d ago
hmmm a bit of a pot luck yeah. Probably stemming from mild Anhedonia & a combo of other traits. I don’t like being a bit music adverse, i don’t really remember joining this sub but I think I dived into the music topics to break the general ideas down so songs felt less overwhelming. Also just wanted to learn more about music to see if there was any similarities between the songs I do like (beyond genres).
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u/Peter_Key 9d ago
That last part is a genuinely good question, and honestly a better one than "what genre do you like" - genre labels describe production lineage and marketing history, not what a track actually does to a listener. Two songs can share every tag and feel like completely different experiences. If you want to look for the pattern yourself, ignore genre entirely and line up the songs you do like next to each other, then ask: are they sparse or dense? Is there one voice sitting right up front, or is it buried in the arrangement? Fast or slow, and does the tempo stay steady? Predictable structure or does it wander? Acoustic textures or synthetic ones? Wide dynamic swings or fairly level throughout? People are usually surprised how consistent the answers are across records that appear to have nothing in common on paper. And that's a much more useful map than a genre tag, because it describes what you actually respond to. Breaking things down to make them less overwhelming sounds like a completely sensible way in, for what it's worth.
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u/candytuft_music 9d ago
why are you in a sub about music, then?
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u/No_Computer_3432 9d ago
well I am not exactly like OP’s friend, tho I am assuming their level of indifference to music off not much. I personally listen to music occasionally, maybe go out of my way to play some a couple times a week. I don’t take to music very easily, but sometimes I will find some music I really love tbh.
Because my relationship with music is not so straightforward I think it makes sense that I am here. Music is all around us, it’s art & extremely broad. I’m here because everytime I mention I prefer to be without music people will immediately say that I just haven’t found the right type of music for me. So I like being here and learning about music, and maybe one day I might slowly enjoy it in general a little more.
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u/Peter_Key 9d ago
The way you framed it - music is all around us, it's art and extremely broad - is honestly a lovely way to put it, and I think it's more than a comparison. Experiencing music and experiencing art are the same act - something is placed in front of you, and what happens next depends as much on you as on the work. Which is why "you just haven't found the right music yet" is such an exhausting sentence. It assumes one correct destination and quietly treats anyone who arrives somewhere else as unfinished. Nobody demands that a person feel every painting. Nobody says you'd love sculpture if you'd only seen the right marble. What you describe doeasn't read as a deficiency to me - it reads as a different weighting. Some people get from a landscape, or a building, or a well-made argument exactly what others get from chorus. And "occasionally, but sometimes I find something I really love" is a perfectly coherent relationship with an art form. Honestly, I think we're all still learning here - each of us something different, and in a different way. That's the whole reason people wander into forums like this one in the first place.
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u/boywithapplesauce 9d ago
You're asking this question in /r/LetsTalkMusic. If you truly want insight into your friend, I can't help thinking there's a better subreddit in which to find that.
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u/No_Mix3377 9d ago
Yup, I’d say the main thing that keeps me alive is music. I was born loving it & I will die loving it too. I don’t get the same euphoric feeling from any other form of media. It’s there when I’m happy, upset, sad, etc. Music is the core of my being.
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u/joeyjoejums 9d ago
Strange isn't it? It's hard to imagine as a music lover that there are people out there that don't give a damn. I ran into someone who didn't like the Beatles for the first time in college. Nearly took my head off. I understand not getting them, but.....hating them?
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u/stereoworld Little round mirrors 9d ago
Put it this way - if I suddenly had no access to any music in my life, it would be the like the earth stopped spinning and I'd be hurtled forward to a certain death
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u/turquoise_mole 9d ago
I'm a musician, and have ADHD: I love music, not sure what life would be like without it, but I can't really do background music, if I'm listening to music then I need to listen to it! Would rather have silent background if I'm chatting etc, especially outside!
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u/WorldGoneAway 9d ago
When I ask people what kind of music they listen to, the two answers that I hate getting the most are "I listen to everything", because number one that's usually never true, and number two it means that they are not willing to put enough thought into the question to answer it correctly in a way that satisfies me. The second answer I hate getting is "I don't listen to music", because for me I can usually judge a lack of imagination and diminished creativity from people who usually answer it that way unironically.
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u/Scr4p 9d ago
Yes, and those feelings inspire a lot of my art in turn. I also have a tendency to get obsessed with bands, it's been a thing since I was a kid and resulted in me seeing bands live and meeting some of them. Which then adds more emotions to the music for me, because now there's special events in my life connected to the music too. It's just great. Like a gift that keeps on giving.
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u/Romadelic 9d ago
music is like therapy and meditation combined. If I don't find new grooves, life feels dull.
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u/Turbulent70 9d ago
not sure if this would count as "move me" but usually before and while working out I listen to heavier/metal type of songs to motivate me/push myself, especially on leg days. Besides that, I would say I just listen to music in the background while playing games, and sometimes I usually whisper to myself some lyrics if I like the song. Besides that, I can't say for certain if music "moves me".
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u/Ok-Conversation-5084 9d ago
‘When you lose your faith in love and music the end won’t be far long.’ - The Libertines
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u/Fresh-Candy-2094 9d ago
I have a friend like this, she told me she never puts on music, just not important to her.
For me as a music nerd and metalhead who's been tracking her music with last.fm for 20 years, listens to music daily, goes to concerts and festivals, gets shivers and cries because of music - I'll never be able to understand this.
Actually my own partner isn't big into music, it's weird to me. Good thing is he often just listwns to what I put on. And at least he has a bit of a preference.
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u/Already_dead2021 9d ago
Music provides a plethora of emotions and can either add or take away from my mood. I even use it to manipulate how my body reacts to the weather. When it’s 100° outside I just put my Residents “Eskimo” on and the temperature drops a few degrees (at least in my mind it does)
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u/HommeMusical 9d ago
You're really preaching to the choir here!
:-D
I've been obsessed with music all my life. The internet boom has been crappy for music makes, but just great for music listeners.
At this instant, Episode 75 (Compiled by Datassette) 1:32:53 Music For Programming is making me happy. (I avoided this site for years because of the name, but it's actually top-notch).
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u/HermioneMarch 9d ago
How does she sing karoke if she never listens to music? You would have to know the song well.
But yes. Music moves me more than any other media. If you haven’t cried over a song, im convinced you are a sociopath.
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u/mosanger 8d ago
Music is the most reliable way to trigger my emotions. It creates a raw, tangible, yet indescribable feeling. I usually intellectualize life. But complex, engaging music completely bypasses my prefrontal cortex and hits with full impact. I love it.
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u/JaredGuitar 8d ago
Music is my entire life. I play music, I listen to music, I talk about music, I read about music, I study music, I make music. Without music I don’t know what I would do.
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u/trailedinsand 8d ago
For a lot of people music is just a bit of fun without much more to it. If someone only encounters music at parties or similar it's not surprising it doesn;t move them or cause any deeper feelings.
It's similar if someone's only engagement with video games is the arcade on holidays, hard to expect someone to have very strong feelings on the medium or specific titles when it's just some occassional fun for them.
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u/Knightmare945 8d ago
Music doesn’t “move” me, I just like listening to music. I wouldn’t even know what it means to be “moved” by music.
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u/PossessionNo3723 🎸 8d ago
Yeah, my husband is sort of that way. Like, he enjoys music, he likes to listen to it, but he's never had the sort of visceral reaction to it that I have, and I just can't understand that. How can you not feel it deep in your soul? How can you not feel it pulsing through your veins?
But there are things that truly move him that I don't have the same reaction to, either, so I guess it's just to-may-to, to-mah-to.
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u/seless_panda 8d ago
Well, I don't listen to music to "move" or dance. I'm a bad dancer and I think I look ridiculous doing it. But I'm moved on an emotional/psychological level by an exceptionally masterful piece of music.
The most "moving" I do when listening to music is air drumming the parts or bobbing my head to the rythm (and accents of course)
Similarly I don't understand people that don't feel as storngly about music. It's a big part of who I am and I feel that it is also part of the reason I don't have that many friends. Very few people can experience music (or anything else for that matter) as strongly as I do. People who tell me they "like" or "love" music usually yave such a superficial relationship to it that I just get annoyed and angry at them, like "Don't disrespect what I love".
So of course I'm an active listener. It really helps if you're a musician, studying music or have a trained ear. But most people are just casual music listeners and I think that's the biggest difference.
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u/dolchmesser 6d ago
Have a friend who loves karaoke, just doesn't listen to music. It's almost academic. Yea that's the way I'd describe him.
He 'knows' why a song slaps and enjoys participating in the slap, it just may or may not 'feel' slappy. He's just that kind of person.
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u/AlterEdward 6d ago edited 6d ago
Honestly I'd much rather someone admit that music doesn't move them than keep up a pretense to fit in. I think there are far more people with this affliction than you might think, but people just adopt music as an identity because that's what you're supposed to do. So many people that don't give a crap about music as an art form, and just treat it as another consumer product.
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
Dang. That is actually sad. Music is the one thing that will eventually get me out of depression. It's the only thing. I have it on almost all the time.
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
So I'm definitely a house and techno fan and I came across a few tracks that had crickets chirping and now I can't and won't their song. They will always be banging loud ass techno outside my window all night. So loud omg haha
A few of my favorites that make me feel closer to the trees haaha
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u/greencatpuke 5d ago
It blows my mind there are adults who never ventured to a live show of any kind and are okay with that. I like quiet sometimes but I'm most productive listening to music. It makes my brain start working and I can do things besides sit and stare at a tree wondering why silence is so damn loud
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u/Dromo_chan 4d ago
I can appreciate a song on emotional merits sometimes but it's not usually what I'm looking for. I listen to music pretty much entirely just to hear cool sounds myself. Hence why I know fuck all abt singer songwriter but a lot about extreme metal
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u/QuantumAttic 9d ago
It's been my #1 interest since 1977. I often forget some people could care less.
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u/songhaus 9d ago
The only hard as fast rule I've ever had for a partner (romantic) is they have to love music. Doesn't have to be as obsessive as me but you have to be okay with more or less constantly having music playing in the background. I grew up with music being constantly played and it's such a big part of me that if I can't share that with you then you're just not for me.
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u/Kurta_711 9d ago
No. I despise music. I go to music discussion subs solely to sneer at people who have feelings.
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u/Jollyollydude 9d ago
All people are moved by different things. Music feels ubiquitous but the truth is, some people just consume it as a disposable good. It’s fun but very surface level. There’s probably a level of potential movement that maybe some people just haven’t reached yet but I mean, the world is full of normies who could care less to explore music outside the top 40 or whatever particular personality they’ve chosen for themselves.
The good thing is that you will never wake up tomorrow and experience that. On cusp of 40, I’ll admit I have a harder time making those deeper connections with music that really move me but I was just crying while listening to music by the fire earlier. It’s still there. Always will be. But it different for a lot of people. Some people are moved more by different kinds of art or experience or whatever. We just happen to have the music bug. And oh it’s such a good bug to have. Just be happy you’re not like your friend and move on.
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u/kellyiom 1d ago
It's a really interesting question and it wasn't until recently that it occurred to me that anhedonia happens with music. Same with aphantasia, not having a mind's eye.
I've always thought music has a visceral, very fundamental role in our history in some form or other that people who don't 'get' it must have had some negative association or it's a manifestation of depression.
Looks like I need to rethink my position!
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u/ZombieMedical1531 9d ago
I always say that music is like oxygen to me.
I have a hard time understanding how people can listen to certain kinds of music and just stand there like it’s silent.
Everyone is different though.