Queen & good feelings

ACCORDING TO SCIENCE “DON’T STOP ME NOW” IS, ABSOLUTELY, THE SONG THAT MAKES PEOPLE FEEL BETTER. LET’S SEE WHY…

There are a lot of types of songs: happy songs, sad songs…. and then there are songs that make the listener feel well. Certainly “Don’t Stop Me Now” by “Queen” is one of these, indeed, according to a scientific study conducted by Jacob Jolij, the cognitive neuroscientist of the “University of Groningen” in the Netherlands, this famous song is the most encouraging song in the world. This research was commissioned to the scientist by “Alba”, a well-known electronics brand that wanted to find out what the musical preferences of British citizens are, in particular, the songs that manage to cheer them up.

The doctor has compiled a real ranking of the songs that are able to have a positive impact on the mood of the listener and to do so he used a very precise mathematical formula:

RATING = 60 + (0.00165 * BPM – 120) ^ 2 + (4.376 * Major) + 0.78 * n°Chords – (Major * n°Chords)

Incomprehensible to “non-experts”, this formula actually measures the relationship between different factors, such as the beats per minute, the scale and the different chords with which the song is composed. According to Jolij, these are precisely the key factors that distinguish what he called the “feel-good song” from all the others. “The songs that have a comforting effect on the listener is actually a very personal issue – the neuroscientist explained – the music is intimately connected with memories and emotions and these associations determine very strongly if a song is able to put you in a good mood or not “.

According to the neuroscientist, there are some factors that a composer/songwriter should take in consideration if he wants to create a “song of good humor”: “It’s the lyrical tone, the musical tone and the beat – “he said;”Christmas songs, for example, remind us happy memories, thanks to a higher key that sounds cheerful to our ears and arouses something that we associate with trust and security. A faster time of 150 beats per minute, however, although unconsciously, gives us a sense of energy” – he emphasized”; by combining these three ingredients together we obtain the formula for the perfect ‘feel-good song’”.

Analyzing the greatest musical successes of the last 50 years, Dr. Jolij has compiled this classification. Here are the songs that can put you in a good mood and inspire you:

1. Queen, “Don’t Stop Me Now”

2. ABBA, “Dancing Queen”

3. Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations”

4. Billy Joel, “Uptown Girl”

5. Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”

6. The Monkees, “I’m a Believer”

7. Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”

8. Bon Jovi, “Livin’ on a Prayer”

9. Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive”

10. Katrina & the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”

Tradotto e riadattato da: Marco Salomone 2°R
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