What Songs Give You "Piloerection?"
Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 8:30AM
Piloerection. That's your word of the day. It's the technical name for "goosebumps." It's an example of what researchers call an Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.
Most of us have had some kind of ASMR experiences and don't even know it. If you've ever had a particularly good massage, you might remember that blissed out feeling that seems to begin at the top of the head and then radiate down through the neck and spine. Then there are videos like this that trigger the response in some people.
Music can also be a trigger. There are perhaps half a dozen songs that can induce such a feeling in me (or something approximating it), no matter how many times I hear them.
The live version of Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" is one of them. So is the original studio recording of The Who's "Who Are You" and John Squire's chiming guitar chords during the jam section that closes the Stone Roses' "I Am the Resurrection."
You know what I'm talking about: a chill, a tingle, a sparkle, a general feeling of goodness that washes over you when certain parts of the song come up. Yet there's a considerable amount of debate amongst those who purse ASMR moments and those who study them. (A deeper dive into that can be found here.)
Another word for these experiences is "frission," especially when referring to ASMR instances triggered by music. Women get them more than men. Ninety percent of music professionals get them but only about 50% of the general public do. And as for the evolutionary reasons for this response, no one really knows.
This is fascinating stuff. Check out the NME article on the phenomenon. Menwhile, what songs send you into frission/AMSR bliss?
Reader Comments (5)
Strung Out's Bring Out yer Dead, the Distillers' Sing Sing Death House, to name but two.
A couple times during the solo of "Money" by Pink Floyd. That's the only one that comes to mind, but I've experienced this many many times.
The I Am the Resurrection outro does it for me too.
Premonition by Ned's Atomic Dustbin used to once it's done building, but it's a little dated now.
Love At First Sight by Lush still does it for me.
The most recent song to do it is Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron. That track is so incredibly well-mixed. Sounds so fucking awesome on both the stereo and headphones.
The intro to Where The Streets Have No Name.
Just gives me a sense of flight/freedom/optimism that radiates all the way through.
Correspondences-The Tea Party...when he sings "Does it tear you apart?"
Psychopomp-The Tea Party
One-U2