The Covid-19 pandemic has been going on for the last 6 months and students’ lives have been upturned. While students constantly work while finals loom ahead, Alya Ocalir, a Don Lugo freshman, declares, “us students just can’t catch a break.” To cope with the current situation students like herself “escape from reality” with music.

What is more appealing to younger students’ in their current situation- sad or joyful music? Do they find sad music more relatable, or happy music more uplifting? Freshman students decided sad music was more to their liking.

The University of Central Flordia states that music is proven to impact mood, memory, performance, and overall wellbeing. It can affect depression, spending, productivity, and people’s perception of the world. Freshman choosing sad music really tells a lot about how they feel. Their research from various studies has shown that preferences for moody songs aren’t just when someone is feeling down. Sad music can act as a mood stabilizer or emotional support, as its generally mellow mood is often reflective of the person listening.

The students also found it hard to choose if sad or uplifting music was better. Anabel Delgado, also a freshman at Don Lugo, said it really depended on her mood. “Happy songs are vibey but sad songs are more relatable to me right now if that makes sense? It suits my current situation and it’s nice to have someone vocalize my thoughts in a song. It’s also nice to hear I’m not alone with how I feel. Happy songs though do help me get a little motivated.”

At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, students took a survey and one of the questions was, “How do you relieve stress?” About 50% replied with some variation of music. One student commented, “I’m not a sad person. I just like the feeling of being sad sometimes.” Another commented, “ I find listening to sad songs that I can relate to its lyrics greatly expedite my learning as well as boost my self-confidence. I know it’s weird, but I love it.”

Alya Ocalir also agreed that sad music was more her style. “It’s easier for me to express myself too. ” Some of the students’ favorite sad music included Violent by Carolesdaughter, Mr. Loverman by Ricky Montgomery, As the World Caves in by Matt Maltese and Little Dark Age by MGMT.

With the pandemic occurring the results are not very surprising. Music has the ability to provide comfort to stressed students. Anabel Delgado admitted that she tended to listen to sad music more often when feeling anxiety and loneliness, she expresses, “Some sad songs are just so similar to my current situation it’s almost scary, in a good way.”