This Song Makes You Feel Good.

## **Counterclockwise** **Music****.**   *This Song Makes You Feel Good.*     **When I listen to “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys, I’m instantly transported back to my childhood in the ‘80s.** In fact, if I close my eyes while listening to it, I’m right there in my childhood house lying on my back with my headphones on, singing away to Mike Love and the boys. I can actually feel that old carpet under my back, and the warm African wind blowing in through my window. In my mind, I’m really there. And I’m a kid again. It’s so powerful that it feels like magic. And maybe it is.   When I use “Kokomo” to time-travel back to 1989, I feel better within seconds. The darkness that surrounds me breaks up. **As long as the song is playing and my eyes are closed, I don’t feel the depression.** I know it’s still there, but as long as I’m back in 1989, the depression transforms from an unmovable, solidified reality, into a movable, quantum probability. And yeah, I know it’s escapism. But hey, there’s far worse ways of escaping reality than listening to a song, right?   Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox**.**   “Kokomo” was my favourite childhood song, so its power is second-to-none. Yet I hardly ever listen to it. Why? Well, I’m worried that if I listen to it too much, I’ll become acclimated to it. Like with coffee. If somebody doesn’t usually drink coffee, but then they have one mug of it, they’re bouncing off the walls. But if someone drinks coffee every day, it’s impossible for them to get the same boost as a non-coffee drinker. And the more coffee someone drinks, the less effective it is.   That’s what I’m concerned about. The more I listen to “Kokomo”, the less effective it may become at transporting me back to 1989. So I use it sparingly. Very sparingly. I don’t have any other songs that possess that same level of magic. There are other songs that have a similar effect, but compared to “Kokomo”, they’re decaffeinated. So for now, I’d rather listen to it too little, rather than too much.   Right, here’s my question to you: **Do you have a song that instantly transports you back to a happy time earlier in life?** And it doesn’t have to be your childhood, as a lot of people (including me) have childhood trauma. So your happy time could be when you were in your 20s or 30s, or whenever you were feeling good in the past.   I’d love to know what your time-travelling song is, so please drop it in the comments. And I invite you to carve out a few minutes today to listen to it. Find a time when you can stop everything and listen with your eyes closed. And remember to put your phone in flight mode while you’re time-travelling. Nothing kills the magic like a notification. And it *is* magic, so I’m excited for you to feel it, too.   Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox**.**   This topic reminded me of the mind-bending work of psychologist Dr Ellen Langer, who conducted the famous “Counterclockwise Study” back in 1979. She got a group of elderly men to live in a house that was retrofitted to look exactly like the year 1959. There were old black-and-white TVs, radios, books, magazines, and music. All of it was at least 20 years old. And these elderly men were also asked to speak and behave as though they were 20 years younger.   What happened next is shocking. Utterly shocking! After only five days of living in this house, Dr Langer measured their biomarkers. **These men had literally reversed the aging process and become biologically younger.** Even their eyesight improved! If you’re interested in reading more about this study, as well as Dr Langer’s other jaw-dropping research, I highly recommend her recent book *The Mindful Body*.   **So, inspired by this Counterclockwise Study, I’m now thinking of my magical time-travel song as Counterclockwise Music.**   And if you’re interested in making music, you can download my Free Book and [**Free PDF Tutorials**](/tutorials)**.** I’ve got resources for songwriters and producers at every level, from complete beginner all the way up to advanced.   Lastly, if you’d like me to keep doing this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber on my Substack or making a one-off contribution**.** And a heartfelt thank-you to all my paid subscribers. There are currently 19 of you, so I know each one of you by name. I see you, and I’m deeply grateful. Thank you!   If you can’t afford to subscribe at the moment though, no problem, you can give the podcast a 5-star rating in your app. That helps support my work, too. Thanks for being here, my friend, you are very much appreciated.   Ray Harmony :)   * * *   ## **Donate****.** Help keep the Songwriter's Ark afloat**.**      *Photo by Mart Production*     * * *   ## **About****.**   Ray Harmony is a **multi award-winning music lecturer** who’s made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Ihsahn (Emperor), Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs), Madchild (Swollen Members), and more. Ray is also the founder of Hack Music Theory, a YouTube channel with **over 10 million views and over 255,000 subscribers** learning the fast, easy and fun way to make music without using AI, cos it ain’t no fun getting a robot to write “your” songs! Everything here is 100% Human and 0% AI.      *Photo by jonas mohamadi*       Outro music by Ray Harmony, based on the music theory from GoGo Penguin "Everything Is Going to Be OK"**.**     * * *   ## **Podcast****.** Listen below, or on any podcast app.