I definitely do feel as if music is related to most friendships I’ve been in and also relationships-they even show your Spotify playlist on dating apps these days! I have a fairly similar music taste as my closest friends and have met a decent amount of people at concerts that I’ve gone to. I don’t necessarily share the same values as some of my friends, but the music we listen to is generally of the same genre, which shows how we’re compatible in a way.  My best friend listens to different artists than I do (generally) but we send each other songs in an effort to communicate how we feel and open us up to new artists. I feel like through our dissimilarity in music (with some big exceptions) we learn from each other a lot.

I think that how we listen to music also affects how we interact with people with it. For some, it’s simply a getaway from their current life and they focus on it to the point that it distracts from other things they want to do. For others, motivates them to do things they’ve put off doing. I’ve found friends who’ve had both of these relationships to music, and I found that my friendship with these individuals was strongest when I had the correlating relationship to music as they did (regardless of the genre or lyrical content).

 

“My Name is Mud-Primus” – Father

My dad has shown me the music video to this song countless times and it reminds me of his sense of humor.

“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap-AC/DC” – Mother

I don’t want this to be misconstrued! My mom is a giant fan of AC/DC and I listened to a lot of their music growing up. This song reminds me of her specifically because at one point in elementary school she told me that this was my favorite song. My fascination with music now likely stems from my mother and father.

“Up We Go-Lights” – Me

This is a fairly uplifting song which has lyrics that involve some of my personal feelings whenever things look bad. Also, the first concert I went to by myself was hers!

“Bad Romance-Lady Gaga” – My best friend

When my best friend showed me this song as a kid, I was entirely freaked out at first. After listening for a few minutes, though, I realized I really liked the song even though it was different from what I listened to. My best friend is also pretty different from me, so this song reminds me of her every time I hear it!

“Nobody-Mitski” – My friend group

This is an artist that my one friend group generally likes a lot. This song is fairly vulnerable lyrically, but I feel as if that represents how we’re allowed to be vulnerable in front of each other as friends.

 

 I picked a picture of a girl “crowd surfing” because I’ve seen it a lot at concerts and I find that it shows how concerts and music create a sense of community. In relation to the topic, I think people with similar music tastes can strengthen their bonds closely.