Five songs that science thinks won’t give you chills but which actually do
There’s nothing that most of us love to discuss more than when a song gives us chills, but what’s harder to navigate is why. Much like how Pedro Pascal discusses his love for Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ – sometimes there just aren’t words. It just is.
Well, sort of. There are actually extensive scientific studies on the emotional response we experience when listening to music, and it’s just about what you’d expect – songs in major key with a more upbeat rhythm and positive message are more likely to boost our mood, and ones in minor key that sound dreary with a slower pacing are more likely to make our moods dip.
However, there’s more to the entire experience than happy and sad, and one research project conducted by data scientist Rémi de Fleurian previously looked into the response called “frisson”. This, put simply, means “chills”, the good kind that you sometimes feel when listening to a piece of music that hits you right where it counts.
The project focused on analysing 700 songs collected from elsewhere, including, of course, Pascal’s beloved ‘Purple Rain’, as well as The Smiths’ ‘How Soon Is Now?’, Eric Clapton’s ‘Tears In Heaven’, and others. Rather than mood boosting, these songs had “sadder, slower, less intense, and more instrumental than matched tracks.” They were also more “relaxing, quiet, non-danceable, slow, and non-electric”.
By data science logic, however, what about those that exist outside of that description, but still evoke chills? The ones that appear to be the complete opposite, but which still give you that spine-tingling feeling that keeps you coming back? Or, put simply, the ones that science thinks you won’t enjoy in the same way, but that you actually do?
Five songs that give you chills:
The Who – ‘Baba O’Riley’
If we’re to look at songs that give you chills as ones that are generally slower, not electric, more on the quiet side and less intense than others, then surely The Who’s masterpiece ‘Baba O’Riley’ shouldn’t even come close to evoking those kinds of reactions. But it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t immediately affected in the opening notes.
One of the reasons why some people have such an intense response is because of the associations they have with the song, whether it’s something they watched and loved, like Stranger Things, or something more personal, like maybe it reminds them of a loved one. Either way, there’s something in it that feels inherently nostalgic, trapped in a specific place and time that beckons you back whenever you stick it back on.
Joy Division – ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
Another song that defies the slower, more laidback aspect of typically chill-inducing songs, Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is one of the most emotionally evocative ever written for a mixture of reasons.
The first is that, sonically, it sounds like the feeling of being transported back to a specific moment in time, maybe at a nightclub in your youth, or the first time you felt emotionally attached to another song or band. The second is the context around it, and how it unintentionally (and unknowingly) became their biggest hit, weighed down by its own tragedy in the most beautifully haunting way.
The Cranberries – ‘Dreams’
There are certain songs that simultaneously feel like the opening scene to a movie and the one that plays over the end credits, and The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’ is one of them. The driving beat alone is enough to incite chills, but then comes Dolores O’Riordan’s gorgeous vocals, as smooth as ever and completely brimming with raw emotion.
The meaning tucked within these endearments is also a common theme among songs that evoke powerful emotions, tackling the overwhelming feeling of falling in love with someone unexpectedly for the first time – an emotion and experience that most of us remember well, captured in one masterpiece of a song.
Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’
Though it might seem something of a wild card when it comes to songs that give you chills, Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’ makes this list for several reasons. The first is the fresh poignancy it holds, as one of Osbourne’s most important songs and one that anchored Osbourne’s ability to capture themes broader than what they seem, like basic insanity, perhaps.
Inspired by the Cold War, ‘Crazy Train’ is a tour de force with a message more important now than ever, both in the broader scope of sociopolitical contexts and in terms of Osbourne’s personal legacy. You might go so far as to say it’s his most important track, capturing all parts of his musical appeal with absolute finesse, enough to give you goosebumps every time you hit play.
Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
This song probably doesn’t rank very highly in most studies backed up by science, if only with regard to its unpredictability and unconventional song structure. But, like ‘Crazy Train’, Queen‘s magnum opus, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, has accrued a legacy of its own, inspiring immediate chills the second it kicks in – purely because of what it means and everything it achieved along the way.
More than that, the entire song creates a sense of tension and anticipation from the sheer familiarity of it, especially as you wait for specific parts – ones that are your favourite, perhaps – with the moments prior serving as the perfect build-up. Stylistically, it pinballs around, each part as masterful as the last in a way that can be shocking, if you’re less familiar – the unexpectedness of which can sometimes leave your hair standing on end, in a good way.
