Once, while watching a DVD of Mr. Holland's Opus over my loud objections, my older sister unironically said, "Music makes you feel things."
Well, evidently an offhand, obvious observation like that demanded some scientific study. Nokia recently commissioned a physiologist to conduct research on the subject of music and emotions, and he came to the exact same conclusion as my sister did after watching Richard Dryfuss teach some kid how to play the tuba during the turbulent 60s: Turns out, music does make you feel things. Who knew?
But the science didn't stop there. The physiologist went on to test physical responses to a number of songs in order to determine which songs make people the saddest, and which songs make them feel the most exhilarated.
The saddest song was The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work." (Sadness was measured by decreased heart rate, not by the number of tears you're crying on the inside.)
The most exhilarating song (i.e. the song that causes the biggest increase in breaths per minute) was Blur's "Song 2."
Yes, this study took place in the UK.
Anyway, here are video clips for The Saddest Song:
[youtube:n4XCGeckA-E]
And The Most Exhilarating Song:
[youtube:iJ-6xGaETHQ]
If you listen to them back to back, you can find out what manic depression feels like (in the UK). Isn't science fun?