As humans, our primary aim in life is to be happy. We go to great lengths to avoid negative feelings in our daily lives. Yet, when it comes to music, we seek out that same sadness that we had been running from. This strange phenomenon is known as the tragedy paradox, and understanding it will help you explain why you like sad music so much.

Dr. Sandra Garrido is a musician and a psychologist who has researched this area for years. She summarized her most recent research findings in a short TEDx Talk. “We like sad music,” Dr. Garrido says, “because it takes us on an emotional journey where we can absorb and immerse ourselves in the emotion without having to deal with its real-world consequences.” Furthermore, sad music creates an ideal environment for reflection. Sadness also has adaptive value. When we are sad, it is usually because there is some problem that we need to work through. Sad music acts as an outlet, enabling catharsis in the listeners. Sometimes, all we need is to know that others share the same sadness we do. Sad music facilitates this empathetic connection, providing solace and understanding.

We can only reap the above benefits because our brains are able to draw a distinction between sadness as a negative emotion and sadness in an aesthetic context vis-a-vis sad music. This is why, not just with music but with several other forms of media, sad content is widespread and popular. Sadness evoked by music, or aesthetic sadness if you will, is so explicitly sought out as it evokes pleasurable feelings. From the perspective of biopsychology, sad music could act as a homeostatic regulator. Homeostasis is the biological maintenance of an internal equilibrium in our bodies that keeps us alive and well. Emotions are evolutionarily advantageous because they help us reestablish homeostatic equilibrium. Hence, sad emotions evoked by music can serve to correct a homeostatic imbalance by increasing the levels of the hormone prolactin. Prolactin evokes feelings of consolation and [reward] (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110490&ncid=txtlnk) in our brains. This is exactly the logic behind our music selection strategies when we’re experiencing negative circumstances — self-regulation.

Sad songs are available in virtually any genre, and I think that is what makes them so universally loved. Experiencing the emotion, while also having no real-life implications, gives sad songs the perfect appeal, with nostalgia, rather than sadness, being the most frequent emotion evoked. Nostalgia, in turn, has its own little jar of benefits: social connectedness, self-esteem, optimism, and renewed meaning in life, to name a few. Of course, not all people benefit from listening to sad music. I, for one, cannot stand it. Personality, gender, and many other factors play a role in whether or not we like sad music. One study even showed how sad songs can increase rumination and prolong negative emotions in depressed patients.

Yet in general, for those of us that love a tragic melody once in a while, sad music is just the thing we need. Feeling blue? Just put on the saddest song you know and cry it all out.