Coping with Music

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Since I write music I'm naturally curious about other people's taste in music and other such things and thus I'm curious about how you guys feel about music.  Do any of you listen to music to try to help improve your mood when you're perhaps depressed?  Is it mood appropriate and depressing when you're depressed or is it the exact opposite?  Myself, I find that listening to music that is appropriate to the mood helps the most instead of listening to the exact opposite.

[farraway]

Absolutely corlenbelspar !
I love music and it is always with me - I haven't gone the iTunes route but I have a special (big) usb to which I can attach earphones, plug into my car radio, tv or stereo at home etc.
I've got around 1500 titles.

I just love these artists - Madonna, Chris Isaac, Coldplay, Duffy, Joe Satriani, Kelly Clarkson, Lou Reed, Melanie C [playing now], U2.

I love Oz music intensely too - we have some great artists here - heard of Paul Kelly, Delta Goodram, Nic Cave, Jimmy Barnes, Sarah Storer?
If you need educatin' you can pm me for some music links!

While we're on music - does anybody have a Bipolar song?
The songs I have saved so far are :-

Because I got High - Afroman
This is Who I Am - Madonna
Crushing Day - Joe Satriani
Talking Back to the Night - Joe Cocker
See the Sun Again - Dido  
Dancing In The Dark - Bruce Springsteen

[bernie40]

Crazy by Patsy Cline ;-)

[bernie40]

Oh and also, Crazy by Niles Barkley which is my theme tune!

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I always thought Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd was a good for Bipolar disorder because it starts out all moody and depressed and then gets high and the lyrics can fit things that happen with the disorder.

[Narnia41]

Wow what a thought provoking question! Yes I agree with you, the music has to 'fit the mood'.  When I was a student I listened to Pink Floyd alot but I can't listen to it now as it really brings back dark thoughts.

My Bipolar songs..

Bedshaped - Keane (sums up BP for me)
Closest thing to Crazy - Katy Melua
What if....Coldplay
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
All the Lost Souls - James Blunt (The whole album but particularly 'Shine On')
Bridge over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Somewhere over the Rainbow - Eva Cassidy

All songs which have made me cry but I will 'enjoy' wallowing in sadness listening to them

I'll probably go and think of loads more but I'll stop there.  Music can definitely intensify any mood for me, it has such a powerful effect and has done all my life. Need to think of Happy, high tunes now to balance it out!

[Narnia41]

I added another song with 'Crazy' in the title for you :-)

[farraway]

"Crazy" - I love it! - I fished around and found maybe 10 versions by some well known artists - but Gnarls Barkley definitely gets my vote.

Sorry corlenbelspar  - "Comfortably Numb" is a bit depressing for me - isn't it about dying?

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Comfortably Numb was about where doctors bust into Pink's hotel room and brought him out of a drug overdose in order to shove him on to stage to perform a concert.  Pink himself was always going through some kind of mental breakdown throughout the album and movie due to traumatic events that kept happening to him.

I always thought "Now I've got that feeling once again, I can't explain, you would not understand, this is not how I am." was one of the best lyrics I ever heard in my life.

[farraway]

corlenbelspar  -  I'll bow to your superior knowlege!

Now..........for a "GET UP AND GO" piece,
how can you go past: Crushing Day by Joe Satriani (world's best guitarist?) - it just gets me up and going! - I'm still trying to figure out how to get it into my alarm clock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbTYs-ajHUk

[bernie40]

Hi Farraway.  It would have helped if I'd spelt the guys name properly, lol.  I had a complete blank and went through Giles, Niles ... you get my drift ;-)  I used to sing it in the car with windows down, kids in the back laughing.  

Thanks Narnia :-)  yes that is a good song.

I have to admit to having a love of the vast majority of styles of music.  Here are my all time faves:  (not inc those I've already mentioned).

Every Breath You Take - The Police
Nobody's Diary - Yazoo
The Weakness in Me - Joan Armatrading
Underworld - Born Slippy - This ones makes me high, I jump round like a loony!
Insomnia - Faithless
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
Mary - Dido
When I'm Gone - Eminem

Oh I could go on and on and on and on .......

Currently listening to Joan Armatrading.

[bernie40]

I think Joe Satriani could grow on me!!!  I love guitar.  Who played parisian walkways?  Absolutely adore the guitar solo in that song.

[bernie40]

Oooh ooh, Coldplay - which is the song with "when September comes" in the lyrics.  They played that at my son's leaving service (when he left junior school) - oh boy I still sob whenever I hear it!

Ok, folks I promise I'll shush for a bit now :-()

[LetaB]

Waking up with BP mania attack - Beautiful Day by Elbow
The end of it all - Hallelujah covered by Rufus Wainright.
Manic obsession - Obsession by Sarah McLaughlin
The world is too much to bear - Fantine's song from Les Miserables
My life story - Loser by Beck

This subject turns me on...I was supposed to be some where 20 minutes ago! Music is my language, my comfort, my passion. It puts me under a spell and can bring back a whole world that I loost track of and bring me to my knees.

[bastet56]

Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult lately, but I find most country or 60's, 70's, and some 80's tend to soothe my soul and give me peace. My theme song? They're Coming to Take Me Away! by Napoleon's Ghost of course!

[bastet56]

That's 60,70 and some 80's rock n roll, didn't finish writing my thought.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

My friend Josh introduced me to Elbow, I've only heard two of their songs and would like to hear more but never got around to digging it yet.  I was particularly fond of Mirrorball.  Music is obviously my language and passion too since I'm a composer.  I unfortunately can't write from emotion because I'm usually either depressed or don't have any emotions but I apparently somehow still write music that people think is good and sometimes even merits an emotional response which is cool.  Every once in a while people even say it's "beautiful".

Hell, I sometimes even convey things better through music than I ever could through speech.

[ILADVOCATE]

Actually when I encounter a state of depression or dysphoric mania most likely something depresive such as the Cure (early albums before they became too mainstream), Joy Division, Velvet Underground or Nick Drake (favorite is his first album "Five Leaves Left", most people have heard the song "Pink Moon" off his last album, same title). If I am euphoric I would say classic rock from the 60's, any of the latter albums by the Beatles or the Byrds. If I am stressed and want to chill out, some early electronica such as (very early) Tangerine Dream or contemporary classical such as Philip Glass. Anything by Miles Davis I'll play at all times though or jazz in general. The more interesting thing for me is not to play music that fits my mood but to be listening to music and then realize from it what mental state it shows I am in.

[Narnia41]

I love the Gnarls (sp?) Barkley song too, have been known to dance round the kitchen to that one!

I think you mean ''Wake me up when September ends'' by Green Day? Not surprised you sobbed to that at a school leaving service...I'm an emotional wreck at anything like that...as for nativity plays, well I'm hopeless.

Parisian Walkways is by Gary Moore, classic song I agree.

Your September question's just made me think of a fantasic UPBEAT song by Earth Wind & Fire, cheasy I know but I like it :-)

[Narnia41]

corlenbelspar....great conversation topic well done :-)

farraway...now looking for your link on youtube...instead of doing my college homework lol.  Doesn't take much to distract me at the moment!

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Mwa ha ha ha!  It was all part of my insidious evil plan to start a massive discussion topic to unleash upon the world!  Now my evil plan has come together.

[Alex_X_18]

Yeah music helps me alot
I also notice that because my moods change I have very diverse taste in music
when I'm angey I listen to slipknot killswich disturbed mudvane,puddle of mud
alot of the more heavy modern stuff stuff (too many songs to list)
If I'm slightly elavated I listen to techno or rap
like ATC,Basshunter,BT,Freezepop,Prodigy,The chemical brothers,Okenfold,Lords of acid,Daft punk,Snoop dogg Tech n9ne ludachris,eminem,mystikal,Dr dre
When i'm depressed I listen to whiney crapthats normally in the pop genera or really  depressing RnB songs
NLT, nysnc, O town, backstreet boys, savage garden, Burtha, Usher,
Styl Plus
to name a few

[bernie40]

I forgot to mention 'Purple Rain' by Prince and 'When the Doves Cry'.

Thanks Narnia - how could I get Green Day and Coldplay mixed up,   my son would disown me, lol!

In my late teens early 20's it was electronic/techno/dance.

I also like the Beetles as my dad was always playing them - a personal favourite was 'Nowhere Man'.

If this is a Master Plan then I like it, lol!!!!

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Well let's see here, I'm the only one so far who didn't list stuff I listen to and I started this so here goes.

I'm really into Pink Floyd, I liked the album 666 by Aphrodite's Child which is loosely about the book of Revelations.  Bob Seger is pretty cool.  David Bowie, Flogging Molly with the song Float in particular.  Gorillaz and Beethoven and Mozart and many other classical composers such as Carl Orff and his Carmina Burana.  Kayak, which is a band from the Netherlands that sings in English for some reason.  Led Zepplin, Metallica, Rush, some of SEAL's stuff, STP, The Beatles, Wednesday 13 and many others.  I'm also into video game music probably because I only had it and random rock music to listen to when growing up since my great grandparents never bought me tape cassettes to listen to for some reason.

[rdelgado]

Thought I'd put in my two cents.  If I need to cheer up I usually listen to Britney Spears.  I know, so bubblegum.  Can't help it.  The mindless pop keeps my thoughts nice and superficial.  I also love Pink, but some of her music can stir stuff up.  She's definitely got some mood issues.  Matchbox 20 makes me feel normal, since so many of their songs, like Unwell, sound like they were written for bipolars.  If I'm in the mood to move, Eminem always gets me going. Also love Nora Jones, Justin, and Michael Buble.

Does it seem like bipolars tend to have more of an eclectic taste in music more often than others?