It’s no secret that music can have a major influence on the way we feel.
If you’re going on a night out, chances are you’re going to put something on upbeat and loud. If you’re feeling sad, you might dramatically stick on some Adele to match the mood. And if you’re happy, you probably have a go-to song for that too.
But there’s actual science behind the fact that music has an impact on our emotions.
And a study by the University of Missouri proved it. By having people listening to ‘upbeat’ music over the course of two weeks, the results were clear: listening to music tends to make people happier.
Now, researchers are trying to find the perfect happy song.
And they may have found it:
Yup, Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is officially the happiest song in the world, according to science.
So how did someone possibly figure that out? Well, neuroscientist Jacob Jolij created a formula for happy songs by studying 126 songs from a 50 year period. He surveyed 2,000 British people and asked them to pick which songs made them feel happiest.
Jolij then took their answers and examined the songs with the highest scores. He looked at the beats per minute (BMP), the theme, the key, and analysed the lyrics, according to the Independent.
And the results were oddly specific.
Joliji wrote:
The pattern was very clear. The average tempo of a ‘feel good’-song was substantially higher than the average pop song. Where the average tempo of pop songs is around 118 beats per minute (BPM), the list of feel good songs had an average tempo of around 140 to 150 BPM.
And Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ was mentioned by almost two thirds of those surveyed.
But not everyone believes this is correct, and upon learning of the new happiest song in the world, Reddit users were quick to disagree.
Some pointed out that a survey of 2,000 people is hardly concrete evidence of the happiest song in the world, while others said the happiest song for one person may differ from another depending on their cultural background. They said: “All countries must have their versions of ultimate feel good songs.”
I, however, agree with science – ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is a great song.
