Why Taylor Swift’s Music Makes Us So Emotional？

为什么泰勒·斯威夫特的音乐让我们如此感动？

A suggestion for the masses: Now would be a good time to check in on your favorite Taylor Swift fan. After months of feverish anticipation, the superstar delivered her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Friday—and Swifties everywhere are losing their minds.

给大众的建议：现在是一个好时机去关心你最喜欢的泰勒·斯威夫特粉丝。经过数月的热切期待，这位超级巨星在周五发布了她的第11张录音室专辑《The Tortured Poets Department》——世界各地的Swifties（泰勒·斯威夫特的粉丝）都为之疯狂。

From a neuroscience perspective, the response makes sense. Research suggests that music activates the brain’s reward system, triggering the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. “We know that music is highly tied to emotion for a variety of reasons,” says Lindsay Halladay, an associate professor in neuroscience and psychology at Santa Clara University. “The tempo of music can actually modulate neural oscillations, which are sometimes called brain waves. It can alter the way the whole brain is communicating.” That’s why you might feel more energized after listening to upbeat music, for example, or relaxed after an evening of Beethoven.

从神经科学的角度来看，这种反应是有道理的。研究表明，音乐可以激活大脑的奖赏系统，触发神经递质多巴胺的释放。“我们知道音乐与情感高度相关，原因多种多样，”圣克拉拉大学神经科学和心理学副教授Lindsay Halladay说。“音乐的节奏实际上可以调节神经振荡，有时被称为脑波。它可以改变整个大脑的沟通方式。”这就是为什么你可能会在听完欢快的音乐后感到更加精力充沛，或者在听贝多芬的音乐后感到放松。

But what is it about Swift’s music, in particular, that resonates so deeply? We asked a few psychologists who moonlight as Swifties.

但特别是斯威夫特的音乐，是什么让它如此深刻地引起共鸣呢？我们询问了一些同时是Swifties的心理学家。

She sings about things we all experience

她唱出了我们都经历的事情

Last year, when millions of people were trying to snag Eras Tour tickets, students at Texas Christian University were working just as hard to get into "Psychology (Taylor’s Version)," a new class offered by developmental psychologist Naomi Ekas. “We take different topics and themes from her music or her life and apply a developmental perspective to it,” she says. Classes have centered, for example, on infidelity, revenge, attraction, and breakups.

去年，当数百万人试图抢购Eras Tour巡演门票时，德克萨斯基督教大学的学生也在努力进入“Psychology (Taylor’s Version)”这门新课程，由发展心理学家Naomi Ekas开设。“我们从她的音乐会或她的生活中提取不同的主题，并将发展的角度应用到它们上，”她说。课程已经围绕不忠、复仇、吸引和分手等主题进行了讨论。

During one recent class, Ekas played Marjorie, the devastating Evermore tune that pays tribute to Swift’s grandmother. (I should've asked you questions, I should've asked you how to be, she sings.) Many of the 120 students started crying and asked if they could have a few minutes to text their grandmother or their mom or their dad. “We were all like, ‘Do we continue with class today? Because we’re very sad,’” Ekas recalls.

在一个最近的课堂上，Ekas播放了《Marjorie》，这是一首令人心碎的《Evermore》专辑中的歌曲，向斯威夫特的祖母致敬。（我应该问你问题，我应该问你如何成为，她唱道。）许多120名学生开始哭泣，并询问他们是否可以花几分钟时间给他们的祖母、妈妈或爸爸发短信。“我们都像，‘我们今天继续上课吗？因为我们很伤心，’”Ekas回忆道。

That speaks to the universality of the themes Swift spotlights. “We all experience loss,” she says. “We all experience friends that hurt us, and we want to get back at them and get revenge on them. We all fall in love, we all fall out of love.” Knowing that Swift feels what we feel validates our emotions, Ekas says—letting you know it’s OK to lean into that heartbreak or joy.

这表明了斯威夫特突出的主题的普遍性。“我们都经历了失落，”她说。“我们都经历了伤害我们的朋友，我们想要报复他们。我们都坠入爱河，我们都走出爱河。”知道斯威夫特感受到我们所感受到的，Ekas说——让你知道可以投入那种心碎或喜悦。

Her lyrics get imprinted on our brain

她的歌词在我们的大脑中留下印记

When music evokes an emotion—maybe anger if you’ve just listened to Bad Blood, or longing if you have Dress on repeat—you’ll likely experience stronger memories, Halladay says. “Strong emotions have an ability to alter the way memories are processed,” she says. “Whether it’s positive or negative emotions, they can affect the way our brain stores information.” That’s why we don’t remember mundane events, like what we had for lunch two weeks ago, but more thrilling or traumatic situations are burned into our memory. “We want to hold on to that information, and our brain is very good at doing that when given a cue that it should,” Halladay says. So if you’re already finding it hard to get So Long London out of your head, blame the stirring lyrics: My spine split from carrying us up the hill … You swore that you loved me but where were the clues?

当音乐唤起情感——也许是愤怒，如果你刚听了《Bad Blood》，或者如果你一直重复听《Dress》，是渴望——你可能会体验到更强烈的记忆，Halladay说。“强烈的情感有能力改变记忆的处理方式，”她说。“无论是积极还是消极的情感，它们都可以影响我们大脑存储信息的方式。”这就是为什么我们不记得平凡的事情，比如两周前我们午餐吃了什么，但更激动人心或创伤性的情况却被深深地烙印在我们的记忆中。“我们想要保留那些信息，我们的大脑在给出一个它应该这样做的提示时非常擅长这样做，”Halladay说。所以，如果你发现很难忘记《So Long London》，那就怪那些动人的歌词吧：我的脊椎因为背着我们爬上山而裂开……你发誓你爱我，但线索在哪里？

She’s vulnerable—so we are too

她很脆弱——我们也是

Swift is unusually open about her life, penning raw lyrics about her personal challenges and triumphs. (In the first seconds of new tune Fortnight, she declares: I was a functioning alcoholic ’til nobody noticed my new aesthetic.) That vulnerability can have a profound effect on listeners, says Naomi Torres-Mackie, a psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Torres-Mackie’s clients bring Swift up in sessions more often than you might expect, serving as a catalyst for deeper introspection. “I’ve had a few people come to me and they’re like, ‘I was just listening to this Taylor music, or revisiting this album, and all of a sudden I was able to emote all these feelings that were really hard to express,’” she says. As Torres-Mackie notes, Swift refers or alludes to themes like eating disorders, depression, and self-doubt in her music—and that can grant permission for some people to feel like they're able to do the same.

斯威夫特异常坦率地谈论她的生活，写下关于她个人挑战和胜利的原始歌词。（在新歌《Fortnight》的前几秒钟，她宣称：直到没有人注意到我的新美学，我一直是一个功能正常的酗酒者。）纽约市Lenox Hill医院的心理学家Naomi Torres-Mackie说，这种脆弱性可以对听众产生深远的影响。Torres-Mackie的客户在会话中提到斯威夫特的频率比你想象的要多，作为更深层次自省的催化剂。“我有一些人在听这首歌或重温这张专辑时来找我，突然间他们能够表达出一些真的很难表达的情感，”她说。正如Torres-Mackie所指出的，斯威夫特在她的音乐会提到或暗示诸如饮食失调、抑郁和自我怀疑等主题——这可以为一些人提供许可，让他们感觉自己也能够这样做。

She makes girls and women, in particular, feel seen

她让女孩和女性，特别是，感到被看见

Gender plays a role in the emotions that Swift’s music sparks. Societal norms continue to restrict and dismiss girls and women, Torres-Mackie points out—especially their experiences, interests, and feelings, all of which can be deemed silly or irrelevant. Yet one of our basic psychological needs is feeling seen and understood. Swift’s songs “really give listeners the feeling that girls are, in fact, allowed to be sad, angry, lost,” Torres-Mackie says. “Any emotional experience is important, and it’s worth singing about.”

性别在斯威夫特音乐激发的情感中扮演了一个角色。Torres-Mackie指出，社会规范继续限制和忽视女孩和女性——尤其是他们的经历、兴趣和感受，所有这些都可能被视为愚蠢或无关紧要。然而，我们的基本心理需求之一是感到被看见和理解。斯威夫特的歌曲“真的让听众感觉女孩确实被允许感到悲伤、愤怒、迷失，”Torres-Mackie说。“任何情感体验都是重要的，都值得歌唱。”

Plus, Swift’s songs probe nuances of life that are often unique to women. Take Tolerate It, in which she croons: I wait by the door like I'm just a kid / Use my best colors for your portrait / Lay the table with the fancy shit / And watch you tolerate it. “What she's talking about is doing emotional labor for a man and having it not be appreciated,” says Kerry McBroome, a psychologist in Brooklyn. “She’s touching on that unique specific feminine experience of having all this emotional work being expected of you, and then not being recognized or acknowledged or praised or rewarded for it.” McBroome recalls feeling a gut punch when she first heard the song and thinking, “Oh my God, Taylor, get out of my diary.”

此外，斯威夫特的歌曲探索了通常只属于女性的生活细节。以她在《Tolerate It》中所唱的为例：我像一个孩子一样在门口等待/用我最好的颜色为你的肖像/用花哨的东西铺桌子/看着你忍受它。“她谈论的是为了一个男人做情感劳动，而这种劳动没有得到欣赏，”布鲁克林的心理学家Kerry McBroome说。“她触及了那种独特的女性经历，即所有这些情感工作被期望于你，然后没有被认可、承认或赞扬或奖励。”McBroome回忆说，当她第一次听到这首歌时，她感到了一种打击，并想到，“哦，我的天，泰勒，从我的日记中出来。”

She helps us feel connected to others

她帮助我们感到与他人的联系

Swift excels at making personal experiences feel universal—and when we connect with an experience she describes lyrically, we feel like we’re part of “the larger community of the heartbroken or the jubilant,” McBroome says. “We realize other people have been through the same experiences, and it’s a sense of oneness with a million fans.” Take the infamous scarf Swift describes leaving behind at her ex’s sister’s house in All Too Well. McBroome expects many listeners love the song because they, too, have left a scarf or some other sentimental item behind at someone’s house, understanding it’s lost forever. “It’s easy to put your own stamp on it, and then realize that the world is full of people who have left scars on each other’s lives. And I think she does this by using such specific imagery.”

斯威夫特擅长于使个人经历感觉普遍——当我们与她抒情地描述的经历联系起来时，我们感觉自己像是“心碎或欢欣的更大社区”的一部分，McBroome说。“我们意识到其他人也经历过同样的事情，这是一种与数百万粉丝的一体感。”以斯威夫特在《All Too Well》中描述的那条臭名昭著的围巾为例。McBroome预计许多听众喜欢这首歌，因为他们也留下了一条围巾或其他一些情感物品在某人的房子里，理解它永远失去了。“你可以很容易地给它打上你自己的烙印，然后意识到世界上充满了在彼此生活中留下疤痕的人。我认为她通过使用如此具体的形象做到了这一点。”

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