Do we feel the same emotions while listening to Imagine (and other songs)? (the relationship of emotions and color allows us to see this)

[musli]

There is a way to see that listeners from all over the world feel the same emotions when listening to Imagine (same thing we can do with other songs like Only People and Mind Games)

I found the following research on the music-emotion-color connection:
"EMOTIONS GIVE COLOR TO MUSIC
Scientists have made sure that the perception of music in humans is connected with the feeling of color, and this connection is provided by emotions common to music and color.There is a definite connection between the perception of music and the feeling of color, researchers from the University of California at Berkeley (USA) assure us, who published an article on this topic in PNAS."
https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1212562110

Unlike the study above, I decided to use not a 37-color palette with a choice of one color, but an eight-color model of the Max Luscher test. You can find its online version here, but it does not work correctly. In addition, the colors differ slightly from the original ones - I attached the original picture to this message

https://onlinetestpad.com/en/testview/987-the-luscher-color-test (or you can find another version of the test. But this version is convenient because it forms a link to the sequence of colors that you have chosen and it is convenient to share it to compare the results )

The test is based on the fact that people like different colors in different moods. Therefore, the opposite is also true - the mood can be determined by the preferred colors




I deliberately do not write the results so as not to deprive you of the pleasure of choosing colors while listening to Imagine on your own and independently.

After passing the test, you can copy the link to your result (the copy icon with two sheets) and send the answer in this topic. Then you can compare your results with others.

I note that it is best to listen to music with headphones, not through speakers

https://onlinetestpad.com/en/testview/987-the-luscher-color-test



"Composer Adam Gerow (Adam Gerow) says that music has a special meaning for him: “The feeling that someone feels the same feelings as you, while listening to the same song, cannot be described in words. At such moments a special connection arises between the musician and the listener.” ( https://sudonull.com/post/24932-How-music-affects-our-emotional-state )

 

[musli]

Here are a couple of studies on the Emotion-Color relationship, which is one of the links in the complex Music-Emotion-Color relationship. The connection between Music and Emotions is quite self-evident. We can say that both of these studies are Lusсher test "in miniature", as they compare colors and emotions expressed in words

https://www.researchgate.net/public...Shaped_by_Linguistic_and_Geographic_Proximity



http://www.emotionallyvague.com/results_04.php

 

[musli]

By the way, I choose the same first 2 colors out of 8 in this Queen song as in Imagine (I'm not always sure which of the two colors goes in Imagine first - I can swap them inside the pair sometimes)

Queen - Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)

 

[musli]

I did a little research on Imagine outside this forum: out of 20 respondents, about half, i.e. 10 people, choose the same first 2 colors out of 8 colors of the test, and 3 of these 10 people chose the same first 4 colors out of 8, which, in my opinion, is a good statistic, considering that it was collected during a single listening session and people did not have the opportunity to properly immerse themselves in the mood of the song

Unfortunately, none of the forum participants can decide to participate in the experiment for some reason

 

[musli]

In my experience, in order to truly understand a song, you have to be in context, and that context has to be relevant on a deeply personal level. That's why many people are probably completely absorbed in living in a narrow circle of everyday problems, which seem real and much more important for a person personally than some abstract matter like world peace, which seems to be an attractive but unrealizable idea.

That's what the song is about:
“And all the while we're still thinking 'bout ourselves
Worrying about money and stressing about wealth
But there's much more, much more to live for.”
(Human Spirit - Amy MacDonald)

However, there are some songs where we don't even need to immerse ourselves in the context, because we are already immersed in that context by reality itself. That's the Sting song

So yesterday's news immersed us even more in that context.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yjej0rvw0o
“Vladimir Putin says Russia would consider an attack from a non-nuclear state that was backed by a nuclear-armed one to be a “joint attack,” in what could be construed as a threat to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.”

When listening to the song I always feel the same mood, which is captured in the color test through the following colors https://onlinetestpad.com/en/testresult/987-the-luscher-color-test?res=tabvce6zzxzkg (they are numbered). Maybe someone will choose the same ones - it means (s)he feels the same way, and this song (and Imagine) is not just a background for him(her), as Queen sang about in the song Radio Ga Ga Ga.

So don't become some background noise,
A backdrop for the girls and boys,
Who just don't know or just don't care,
And just complain when you're not there

Here are the lyrics to the song "Sting - Russians"

In Europe and America there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Krushchev said, 'We will bury you'
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It'd be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer's deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent to put
Words in the mouth of the president
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mister Reagan says 'We will protect you'
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too

 

[Ingryd Medeiros]

In my experience, in order to truly understand a song, you have to be in context, and that context has to be relevant on a deeply personal level. That's why many people are probably completely absorbed in living in a narrow circle of everyday problems, which seem real and much more important for a person personally than some abstract matter like world peace, which seems to be an attractive but unrealizable idea.

That's what the song is about:
“And all the while we're still thinking 'bout ourselves
Worrying about money and stressing about wealth
But there's much more, much more to live for.”
(Human Spirit - Amy MacDonald)

However, there are some songs where we don't even need to immerse ourselves in the context, because we are already immersed in that context by reality itself. That's the Sting song

So yesterday's news immersed us even more in that context.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yjej0rvw0o
“Vladimir Putin says Russia would consider an attack from a non-nuclear state that was backed by a nuclear-armed one to be a “joint attack,” in what could be construed as a threat to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.”

When listening to the song I always feel the same mood, which is captured in the color test through the following colors https://onlinetestpad.com/en/testresult/987-the-luscher-color-test?res=tabvce6zzxzkg (they are numbered). Maybe someone will choose the same ones - it means (s)he feels the same way, and this song (and Imagine) is not just a background for him(her), as Queen sang about in the song Radio Ga Ga Ga.

So don't become some background noise,
A backdrop for the girls and boys,
Who just don't know or just don't care,
And just complain when you're not there

Here are the lyrics to the song "Sting - Russians"

In Europe and America there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Krushchev said, 'We will bury you'
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It'd be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer's deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent to put
Words in the mouth of the president
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mister Reagan says 'We will protect you'
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too

It's a mix of emotions. I feel at peace but, normally, very emotional so I prefer not to listen to much.

 

[musli]

Today I found word in one article that express exactly what I came to myself through working with music and the color test:
“We can recognize sad music without feeling sad. Some music, like Bach, can create strong emotions, even if we can't put into words what those emotions are.”

1) “We can recognize sad music without feeling sad.”
So when listening to sad music, it is impossible to choose colors that correspond to sadness if you yourself are not feeling sad.

2) “Some music, like Bach, can create strong emotions, even if we can't put into words what those emotions are”.
The test solves the problem of аlexithymia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexithymia ) - the inability to express one's emotions and feelings in words - if they are strong or new and unfamiliar for a person (that's why he/she doesn't know how to put them into words).

We all know that words, whether written or spoken, can lie. And that often we should pay attention not to what is said, but how it is said - with what emotion.

“Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” - Jimi Hendrix.

Neal Stephensom - Snow Crash:
"Just ask the businessmen in the Nipponese Quadrant. They come here to talk turkey with suits from around the world, and they consider it just as good as a face-to-face. They more or less ignore what is being said—a lot gets lost in translation, after all. They pay attention to the facial expressions and body language of the people they are talking to. And that's how they know what's going on inside a person's head — by condensing fact from the vapor of nuance."

 

[musli]

I thought back and wrote this list of songs on the theme of changing the world.

John Lennon - Imagine
Ringo Starr - Let's change the world
Eurythmics- I saved the world today
Ten Years After – I'd Love to Change the World
Fleetwood Mac - Peacekeeper
Rare Earth – Hey Big Brother
U2 - One
Queen - One Vision
The Beatles - Revolution
Savoy Brown – I'm Tired
Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy

These three hold a special place on the list.
Magic Wands - Black Magic
Joy Division - Transmission
Paul McCartney – The Song We Were Singing

1) Magic Wands - Black Magic
Since it has the lyrics “how could anybody feel the same?!
it's black magic!”. I have experienced this personally with some of the songs - realizing that I feel the same emotions that the author expressed in the music of the song.

2) Joy Division - Transmission
“No language, just sound[music], that's all we need to know
To synchronize love to the beat of the show”

3) Paul McCartney - The Song We Were Singing.
In this song, McCartney talks about how thinking about the “cosmic solution” (i.e. the global solution) always comes back to the subject of songs - as a musician he realizes that a song is a good way to express oneself, to express one's position, and a good way to communicate.

I've sometimes wondered who created a more significant song as a solo artist, Lennon or McCartney.
Lennon's song is Imagine.
McCartney's is Song We Were Singing: because it goes to the meta-level of discussion and discusses the means of song form about song form itself as a means of communication. This song is no less important than Imagine, because it gives songs, including Imagine, a kind of theoretical and practical justification as a means of communication and solving practical problems

For a while, we could sit, smoke a pipe
And discuss all the vast intricacies of life
We could jaw through the night
Talk about a range of subjects, anything you like
Oh yeah

But we always came back to the song we were singing
At any particular time
Yeah, we always came back to the song we were singing
At any particular time

Take a sip, see the world through a glass
And speculate about the cosmic solution
To the sound, blue guitars
Caught up in a philosophical discussion
Oh yeah

But we always came back to the song we were singing
At any particular time
Yeah, we always came back to the songs we were singing
At any particular time

For a while, we could sit, smoke a pipe
And discuss all the vast intricacies of life
We could jaw through the night
Talk about a range of subjects, anything you like
Oh yeah

But we always came back to the song we were singing
At any particular time
Yeah, we always came back to the song we were singing
At any particular time