Maybe I'm the only one... I hope not since I'll feel pretty stupid... but do you have a happy song? A "go to" song that just wipes away your anger, stress, and desire to kill everyone around you? I'm not talking about your favorite hard driving song, but something that you just pull out when you need go 180degrees from your current mindset.
Mine is The Lion Sleeps Tonight. I just can't stay angry and pissed when I hear that song. I've been so stressed at the office due to what's going on in the financial industry and I find that I'm playing that song at least once a day. Everytime I hear it, I think about when I was a kid and my dad, who was this career military man who always played it straight. He used to do this funny dance whenever he played the record that used to make me laugh and laugh and laugh. He didn't yuck it up too much which made it even more funny to me.
Anyway, I think the song has saved me a couple heart attacks and at least several homicides in the last six months.
In my case, I have always found upbeat songs to be irritating when I have been upset and depressed. They made me want to kill someone, preferably the singer of the syrupy song, but anyone close at hand could serve as victim. If I listened to such music in such a state, I would probably be in prison now for mass murder.
What worked for me is going with music that exercises the emotion, and allows me to purge it from exhaustion. There is nothing like this when one is depressed:
http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem/dp/B0000040W1/
Played fairly loud, so the sound washes over one, ideally in a darkened room, preferably with some wine. Afterwards, I felt drained, but no longer with the intensity of feelings I had before.
However, I have not needed that since getting married many years ago. I made a great choice in a wife, and that has very significantly affected my happiness. Whenever I hear people complain about being married, I immediately think they must not have been very good in the selection process (or their spouse wasn't, or both). For me, life is good, and has been for many years. And given that my wife is younger than me, and women tend to live longer than men anyway, she will probably be with me for the rest of my life. I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I will need to break out Mozart's
Requiem again. (By the way, the CD at the link above is a magnificent performance, which one professional reviewer called "a revelation". I agree with that assessment. Because it is so great, I occasionally listen to it for enjoyment even now.)
