The Beauty of Finding a Song that Resonates with you… and then Playing it to Death!
We’ve all been there. Whether it be by pure chance, or after hours of trawling through playlist after playlist of garbage.
There’s nothing quite like hearing a flawless song for the first time and being completely blown away. A superb song not only provides hours of melodic entertainment, but it can also dramatically improve your mood.
You can almost feel the dopamine being released in your brain whilst thinking “ahhh, ain’t life good”. It’s just a shame this feeling can’t last forever.
I distinctly remember the first time the song ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City was released. I am sure most of you have heard of it: it managed to snag number 1 on the charts. After a few listens I was addicted. I played it on repeat for hours and hours, if only I’d had the restraint to prolong the ride; I was done with the song after a week or two.
Because that’s just it. No matter how breathtakingly amazing a song can be, repetition will drive it into the ground, it’s one of nature’s harsh realities.
But why do we repeat this same pattern? It’s only a song — why are we so prone to playing great songs endlessly on repeat?
I’d argue its largely down to how our society has developed — especially in the digital world. Self-gratification in the form of likes, favourites and retweets provide us with a quick fix of dopamine which we have become accustomed to.
It’s no wonder social media has become so prevalent in today’s world, but I digress… Playing a great song provides this same instant gratification and dopamine release which is difficult to resist. Why resist something so small and harmless?
But I wanted to change my mindset. Having repeated this cycle consistently over the years and ruined so many great songs, I challenged myself to limit my consumption of any elite songs I discovered — and the results were definitely worth the effort.
By eradicating the mindless repetition of that abominable repeat button, I found that my love for my favourite songs persevered for at least a month — if not longer.
One band in particular I discovered during this time, was a small Australian group known as ‘The Valley’ (thank you Spotify). Their music aligned perfectly with my musical interests, and I was fortunate enough to unearth several new songs which I considered favourites, although I liked much of their music.
After getting over the initial frenzy of how great these songs were, I allowed myself a few replays and then got on with something else. The following day I woke up and gave myself another brief listening session, “these songs really are incredible” I thought, before again proceeding to go about my day.
I largely continued this process of listening restriction, and now, some 4 or 5 months later, these songs are still among my favourites and bring me bliss every time I hear them.
Now do I feel the same way about these songs on the 100th listen as opposed to the 1st listen? No, of course not. It is inevitable that however infrequent you listen to your favourite songs, the mere fact of listening again will diminish its impact on you, little by little.
But that’s okay, we know that most songs can’t stay on a pedestal forever. Your tastes will change, your desires for certain genres will come and go, but ultimately you want to ensure that your favourite songs bring you joy for as long as possible.
All it takes is a little bit resolve, think of it as putting your mind on a diet. While it might initially be tempting to binge listen, in time, you will adjust to your new equilibrium, and be satisfied with just a few consecutive replays.
So, the next time you discover an impeccable new song and your finger hovers eagerly over the repeat button, just stop and think about how future you deserves to enjoy this song too. A little restraint now might equal a lot of enjoyment later.
