If sad country songs make you happy, raise your hand.
Since you can’t tell if I’m raising my hand, I can assure you that both my hands are high up in the air. And guess what? There might just be some scientific proof behind sad country tunes bringing up serotonin levels. At the very least, country music appears to be good for your mental health.
A study conducted by Tebra that looked into the best types of music for positive mental health found that those who listen to country music tend to be happier. Of all the people that were surveyed, it was discovered that those who enjoyed and preferred the country genre also reported the best mental health levels:
“As for genres, people who listened to country and reggae reported the best mental health, with 52% of each music fandom indicating strong well-being. In contrast, listeners of indie/alternative and heavy metal reported the worst mental health, with 30% and 28%, respectively, saying their mental health was poor.”
COME ON WITH IT (and no surprise that heavy metal listeners aren’t happy).
And on the flip side of things, country music listeners also reported the lowest amounts of poor mental health. So translation: country music fans couldn’t be happier. Makes sense right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone looking sad at my local Honky Tonk.
Could that be why country music fans are at the top of the mental health list? Because of all the things that you usually do while listening to country? Such as:
-Sitting by a fire
-Drinking beer
-Hanging out on a boat
-Drinking whiskey
-Dancing with friends
-Drinking tequila
-Spending time in the garage
-Drinking bourbon
Looking through that beautiful list I just laid out above, it’s pretty easy to see why country music listeners would have great mental health, is it not? And for those non-country-fans that may have stumbled upon this story, if you want to test the results of the study out, just go press play on any George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, or Toby Keith song.
That should help you understand why all of us country music fans are reporting positive mental health.
There are actually a number of different country songs that I always turn on if I’m having a bad day or need a little pick me up. I generally tend to keep them to myself, but since we’re talking about mental health, I’ll share some of my personal favorites that always lift my spirits.
“Hello Walls” By Willie Nelson
“Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
“Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson
Oldies, but goodies.
And while we’re on the topic of mental health and country music, you might as well hop off over to the Whiskey Riff Shop and take a look at all of our “Sad Country” merchandise. You can wear it and display it proudly, assuring everyone that you are a part of the happiest fandom in all of music.
Plus, we all know buying new clothes is “good” for mental health, right? Ever heard if retail therapy? You know what to do…
