UNS — Tulus, one of the famous single singers in Indonesia, launched his new album “Manusia” (Human) in March 2022. One of his new songs, Hati-Hati di Jalan (take care), captured music listeners’ attention and was launched to number 1 on YouTube music with 27 viewers by March 2022.
The song tells a story of a couple who shared background, characters, and life purposes, that do not prevent issues from appearing and ending their relationship. Understandably, the relatable lyrics prompted people to replay the song repeatedly, but what is the actual attractiveness of the sad songs? The Faculty Member of Psychology Program Faculty of Medical Science (FK) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Laelatus Syifa, S.A., S.Psi., M.Psi., Psik., shared her opinion regarding the matter.
Laelatus stated that liking mellow songs do not mean that the person is sad because some people listen to the sad song while they are happy. “Sad songs have different meanings and functions for different people, in different conditions,” Laelatus explained on Saturday (26/3/2022).
She added that sometimes this music helps people fix their numb feeling by evoking strong emotions. “Thus, a person thinks reflectively without having a negative event that evokes it,” she said.
Sad music becomes a means to express emotion, evoking emotional responses and providing media for catharsis to represent what people feel. “By listening to sad songs, people could access hard or painful emotions.”
Therefore, sad songs can be the best option to express an emotional feeling that appears because avoiding emotional response will not make someone’s okay.
“I could distance someone from themselves. Thus, evoking increasingly uncomfortable feelings. That’s why people need a way to solve this issue, including by listening to sad songs,” Laelatus concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter:Lina Khoirun NisaEditor: Dwi Hastuti