Jaelights

Slooping dupes over here

Succinct transbien musician behind Lorelei and the Ghost.
Bring me your finest Yuris!





Music Links:
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@Jaelights
SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/jaelights
BandCamp:
https://jaelights.bandcamp.com/



Writing:
https://www.wattpad.com/user/Jaelights



Business Email if you want music:
loreleiandtheghost@gmail.com



Profile Pic by @nomnomnami


I know, weird title, but I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday. What I mean here is that there are, at very least, a couple of ways that artists interact with their music to find some sort of emotional release.

"Music as therapy", to me, references the idea that some artists will write about difficult things that have happened to them in their lives. Sometimes it can be really painful to just say something out loud but I think, for some artists, getting a chance to sing it, thus putting your thoughts in a more emotionally organized place (imo), is very helpful for creating a sense of closure. Much like talking to a therapist (ideally) should be.

"Music as medicine", again, to me, references using your music to directly make you happy. Ie., you make a happy song because it will make you happy. It's not talk therapy, it's medicine. To some folks music has a very direct access to your emotional core (maybe most folks?) So you don't write about trauma, that just makes you feel traumatized. You write about happiness, because it makes you feel happy.

In summary, with "music as therapy" you write how you're feeling to help you stop feeling that way. With "music as medicine" you write how you want to feel as a direct way to achieve that.1

Which camp you fall in could, and should, have a massive impact on the kinds of music you make. Remember, when you make a song with the intent to release it (with lyrics and intent and the whole shebang) you may be listening to the song for 30, 40, 50 hours (more sometimes) and that's before you release it and possibly have to perform it over and over for decades.

Which makes it extremely important to understand yourself in order to help manage your own emotions.

If you're the sort who writes music as therapy, it may be entirely unsatisfying to just write a super happy song when you're not feeling it. It may even cause a bit of dissonance, perhaps it even makes you feel like a fraud, you know? And sure, the song may be happy and accessible, but if you have to listen to a disingenuous song of your own creation for hours upon hours upon weeks upon years... I mean, ask Billy Joel how he feels about "Piano Man". You have really gotta decide if it's worth the psychic damage you may take.

The same is true for folks who use music as medicine (like me).

When I write a song that is sad, especially one that speaks to things that have happened in my own life, I really really tend to feel it. Like, all the stress of the situation, the sadness, the frustration. I'm feeling it, over and over and over and over. Even when I put the song down and am in between recording sessions the feelings remain.

That's not to say I never write sad songs (I mean, I just released Rain for goodness sake) but I tend to make the sad songs I write about characters I make up so that I can keep some mental distance between me and the theme of the song.

I think that might be useful advice for anyone else who tends to use music as medicine. Make sure you make a lot of happy stuff, firstly. Secondly, when you make sad songs try to imagine it being a character with their own backstory that has brought them to this point (Rain, for example, is the 3rd song in a series of songs about the same two girls. I have a whole short story about them floating around in my head and, yes, I do recommend taking it that far actually πŸ˜„).

But probably the most important advice I can give regarding all of this is to take it seriously.

Sometimes I'll get it in my head that I'm writing a song folks will really like so, despite the fact it's hurting me, I press on. For those of you who follow me, you may have figured out that I'm probably referencing the song I've been writing over the last couple of days. I (quite foolishly) have been parading it around publicly, which is only unwise because it kinda commits me to a thing before I really know if it's a good idea to proceed.

The song ended up being about me and a difficult relationship I have in my own life (and now that my brain has that association, honestly, there's no breaking it for me). I've put at least 20 hours in so far and it is very stuck in my head. When I hear it ringing in my ears it suddenly pulls me, full force, into one of the hardest things going on in my life right now.

I was getting really depressed last night when all of this occurred to me and, instinctively, I went on a walk with my headphones and listened to the Jazz Avengers πŸ˜„. I almost instantly felt better.

I like the song, I think it's good, I think folks like it.... I think I can't finish it, at least not right now. It's difficult for me to put it down, but I think I have to for my mental health.

For some folks a song like this would be extremely therapeutic I think. I think they could release it and every time they hear it there after they'd feel good, like they'd finally gotten it out of their systems.

Me... I think it'd just take me back to that moment over and over. It doesn't give me a sense of relief, it just makes me feel the pain again. It's...not good.

Anyway, this post is only partially to whine about my life, I promise. (If you haven't noticed, I don't do music as therapy, I do posts as therapy. So thank you for being my psychologist πŸ˜…).

Just...take these things seriously. Your happiness is important. If you need to write about the darkness to get it out there, please do. There are folks who are listening to music for much the same reason you are writing it and they will enjoy it. Just find your audience, basically. And if you need your music to cheer you up, focus on happy songs. If you want to write a sad song, make it about a character to help mentally separate it from yourself.

But...maybe don't write about your own saddest and most private moments and, if you feel you need to, think twice about releasing it publicly and then, you know, don't. It's not a good idea 🫠


  1. I feel like I just gotta say, using music to avoid your emotions is just as bad as using any drug to avoid your life. Maybe music isn't therapeutic for you, and that's fine. But it's important to find some way to work through things. Just wanted to make that note.


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