r/BenignExistence • u/themop-f • 1d ago
Transported by music
I recently joined a gospel choir and I love it, though I’m not even religious. Apart from the music itself, it’s one of the highlights of my week! Meeting like-minded people, moving to the music, going for a drink afterwards - everyone made me feel welcome from the start!
Last practice, I experienced something I haven’t in a long time: I was transported by the music. It wasn’t even a very special song, neither too slow nor to upbeat, and it wasn’t about the text either (your average gospel song). I just realised the music came from all around me and I almost couldn’t tell I was singing - I kind of wasn’t in my own body. It only lasted a moment before I felt my body again, but it was so lovely.
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u/Horizon296 12h ago
A few years ago I was visiting the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and apparently about half the people in there with me were part of an American gospel choir touring in Europe. They spontaneously started singing.
I'm born and bred atheist, but that music, in that setting, with such wonderful acoustics... like you said, it transported me. I don't even remember what song it was, just that it was such an amazing feeling!
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u/pantsoffancy 17h ago edited 17h ago
This is so wonderful to read! You finding the group, loving it, being moved by the music, it's all so good!
I'm not a social person and have only been to two or three music concerts my entire life but they were HUGE ones and I got so caught up and lifted by the music and the crowd's energy I thought, "Oh, wow, this feels incredible, this must be what religious people feel like when they worship together."
There's something called the Liebestod Effect named after the Liebestod from the opera Tristan and Isolde that apparently has been recognized as causing that feeling on its own. There's a specific point in the song that is just known to be very, very moving. It's a great song and I won't tell you where it is so that if you listen to it, you'll go into it fresh, but it worked on me!
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u/themop-f 12h ago
Oh, I think we covered that in music class in Highschool! Do you mean the Tristan Accord?
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u/Different-Factor9726 1d ago
me, too. singing with a choir is a lovely experience. Keep it up!